THE WHITE-FRONTED OR LAUGHING GOOSE. 75 
I might have killed a dozen Geese during the time I had wast- 
ed over this one wounded bird, which was, moreover, a very 
small one. There was almost a mutiny, but L[had marked the 
bird precisely and insisted on going up to the spot. When we 
got there, there was no Goose—a great triumph for the men. I 
looked about for a few minutes; the men said, “there, we told 
you it flew out of sight.” I said, “ I know it dd alight here just 
at the foot of this tree,” and I turned to go back to the boats, 
when, as I passed the tree in question, suddenly from under a 
little overhanging sandcrest, not five yards from my feet, out 
flustered the Goose. I let him get away a suitable distance 
and then rolled him over, dead az /as¢t. This, I regret to say, is 
all I know of the species, and except that the note is rather 
more harsh and cackling than that of the Grey Lags, I do not 
find one single fact worthy of note recorded by European 
writers in regard to their habits, food, and the like. 
Though I have seen so little of this species, I have had reason 
to believe that it is not so very rare in the sub-montane districts, 
especially those of the North-West Punjab; but making very 
allowance, I do not suppose that one bird of this species visits this 
Empire for every thousand of Grey Lags, or every five thousand 
of the Barred-headed Geese. Elsewhere it is different. Shelley 
says: “This is the most abundant Goose in Egypt, where it 
may usually be met with in flocks, but does not remain in the 
country later than March. When on the wing, they fly in a 
wedge-shaped flock, and frequently utter a loud, harsh cry, which 
may be heard at a considerable distance. They are generally 
on the move just before sunrise and sunset, and as they are very 
regular, taking the same line of flight and feeding at the same 
spot each day, they may be most readily obtained by lying in 
wait for them. If once fired at, the flock generally leaves the 
neighbourhood altogether.” 
We cannot say certainly when this species arrives in India 
or when it leaves us, but probably early in November and 
towards the end of March. The specimens I killed had fed 
entirely on some species of wild rice and on tender green 
shoots of some grass or grain. 
IN SIBERIA, Middendorff found it breeding up tothe 74° North 
Latitude, and this is about the only authentic account we have of 
its nidification except in Greenland, where probably it is the 
slightly larger-billed American form that occurs. 
They seem to lay, much like other Geese, five to seven eggs, 
thickly bedded in and covered with down, (which the female 
gradually accumulates about them as incubation proceeds,) in a 
good sized nest, placed on the ground near inland waters. 
The eggs are said to be yellowish white, and vary from 3°0 to 
3'2 in length, and from I'95 to 2°1 in breadth. 
