238 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



and sides of body sepia, paler on nape ; yellowish-white bar across 

 wing ; fore-head, rest of neck, sides of face, chin and throat ashy- 

 white tinged buff -yellow ; sepia streak from lores to eye ; remain- 

 ing under-parts greyish -white, in some with yellowish tinge.* 



Juvenile. — Like adult, but no white on fore-head or at base of 

 bill, in some band at base of bill black or black-brown ; in some 

 chin white ; mantle and scapulars as in adult, but with less dark 

 grey bloom being uniform sepia with lighter brown edges ; central 

 upper tail-coverts in some with ash-brown central streaks ; feathers 

 of sides of body and flanks paler than in adult being uniform ash- 

 brown, feathers with bufhsh-white or brownish-white tips, some 

 flank-feathers with outer webs edged whitish-buff ; upper-breast 

 as in adult ; rest of breast and belly pale ashy-white without any 

 black markings, but sometimes some spots or f recklings of dark 

 grey giving a speckled appearance ; lower-belly and vent white ; 

 tail and wing as in adult. Feathers of sides and front of neck normal 

 without pointed tips of adult, those of mantle, scapulars and under- 

 parts narrower and more rounded at tip ; tail-feathers, secondaries, 

 greater and median coverts narrower than in adult, tail-feathers 

 more pointed and wing-coverts more rounded at tip. 



First winter and summer. — Like adult, but usually with less 

 white on fore-head and at base of bill (in some with quite as much 

 white as in adult), white often more or less intermixed with 

 black feathers, in some with little if any white at lateral base of 

 upper mandible which is more or less black ; chin more or less 

 black, sometimes with white patch ; usually no black markings on 

 under-parts, but in some a few black feathers and feathers of breast 

 and belly often more or less mottled or spotted with dark grey 

 giving a speckled appearance, in some with dark grey centres ; 

 new tail-feathers as in adult ; wing as in juvenile, but worn and 

 abraded. The juvenile body -feathers (back and rump always ?), 

 some tail-feathers, in some central pair only, occasionally inner- 

 most secondaries but not rest of wings are moulted from Sept. 

 onwards. Usually many juvenile body-feathers are retained and 

 under-parts and tail are often not moulted. 



Second winter and summer. — Not to be distinguished with 

 certainty from adults. 



Measurements and structure. — g wing 392-442 mm., tail 114- 

 132, tarsus 60-71, bill from feathers 43-52 (12 measured). $ wing 

 380-421, bill 43-47. Primaries : 1st narrow, pointed and about 

 half longest primary- covert, 3rd longest, 2nd and 4th 4-11 mm. 

 shorter, 5th 28-42 shorter, 6th 62-73 shorter. Tail with 16, some- 

 times 18, feathers. Bill shorter than head, otherwise as in A. anser : 

 teeth about 28. Loral and to lesser extent frontal, feathering on 

 bill with a more curved outline than in A. anser ', loral feathering 



* Description from nestlings in Mr. E. L. Schidler's collection. Specimens 

 in British Museum differ in having a yellowish -white patch more or less 

 indicated below wing, while fore-head, rest of neck, sides of face, and under- 

 parts are yellow. 



