62 THE GREY LAG-GOOSE. 
so that towards the end of the incubation term there is much 
more down there, than previously. The eggs vary in number 
from six to twelve, and are not rough in texture of shell, but 
dull and without gloss, dull yellowish white in colour when fresh, 
with the faintest tinge of green. In early seasons the eggs are 
deposited early in March ; but otherwise they are frequently not 
laid until May ; and in Finland I generally obtained them from 
the Ist to the 15th of June. Eggs in my collection vary in size 
from 34 by 2°25 to 3°62 by 2°38 inches. When the young are 
hatched they remain about a day in the nest, and are then con- 
ducted by the mother to the water; and when the nest is near 
the water, which is not always the case, they return to the nest 
every evening, and are covered during the night by the old 
bird.” 
The only Indian eggs of this species, that I have seen, were 
laid in captivity, early in May 1869, by the female of a pair 
of pinioned wild birds in the possession of Ruttun Singh, of 
Juggernathpur, Zillah Etawah. The previous year the same 
bird had laid and hatched a single egg, and had succeeded in 
rearing the young one till it was destroyed by a snake when 
about three months old. 
The two eggs laid in 1869 are moderately long ovals, the 
broadest portion in the centre and the two ends sloping away 
thence pretty equally. The shell is glossless, and of a compact, 
but not a very fine, texture. The eggs are spotless white, with 
a faint creamy or ivory tinge, and when held up against the 
light, seem pale pinkish yellow. They measured 34 and 3°55 
by 2°25 and 2°45. 
“When in Kashgar,” Scully writes, “two eggs of Anser cine- 
reus (laid by a captive bird with cut wings) were obtained on the 
Ist and 12th June. They are spotless white, with an ivory 
tinge, glossless or faintly glossy in parts, and of a compact 
texture. In shape they are moderately long ovals, broadest 
about the centre, and measure 3°37 by 2°33 and 3°21 by 221.” 
THIS SPECIES varies very much in size and weight, chiefly, I 
think, according to age, the birds not acquiring their full growth 
until the third year. The males, too, average larger than the 
females, but many of the latter are quite as big as many of 
the former; and all we can say is, that the very smallest are 
always young females, and the very largest, old ganders. 
The following is a resumé of the measurements of nearly 
fifty specimens :— 
Length, 30 to 35 ; expanse, 58 to 68; wing, 15°75 to I9'0; tail 
from vent, 5°75 to 70; tarsus, 275 to 3:2; bill frem cape, 
to 3; weight, 5 lbs. 12 ozs. to 8 lbs. 14 ozs. 
As for weight, I have weighed several hundred and never yet 
met with one that weighed quite 9 lbs., whereas Naumann gives 
the weight of the swzadlest of the European orange-billed form 
