THE SNOW-GOOSE. 247 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Winter-visitor, mid-Sept.-mid-Oct. 

 to March-May. Most numerous east coast Great Britain, scarcer 

 south and west. Rare extreme north Scotland, identified only two 

 or three times. Orkneys, not Shetlands, a number Oct., 1909, Fair 

 Isle, two Flannans, Ap. 18, 1911, but otherwise doubtful 0. Hebrides, 

 Isle of Man one March, 1916. In Ireland only two obtained, Lough 

 Swilly (Donegal), Oct. 19, 1891, Lough Key (Roscommon), Feb. 17, 

 1908. 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Breeds Spitsbergen and probably Franz- 

 Josef Land, further investigation about other possible breeding 

 grounds desirable. On passage and in winter in north-west Europe, 

 Holland, Belgium (rare), France, Germany, Scandinavia. Near 

 Novgorod in Russia, Iceland, where breeding reported but not 

 proved. (Statements of occurrence in Persia, India, Japan(!) prob- 

 ably erroneous.) 



ANSER HYPERBOREUS * 



293. Anser hyperboreus hyperboreus Pall. — THE SNOW- 

 GOOSE. 



Anser hyperboreus Pallas, Spicilegia Zool., fasc. vi, p. 25 (1769 — 



N.E. Siberia). 



Chen hyperboreus (Pallas), Yarrell, iv, p. 275 ; Saunders, p. 405. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter and summer. — 

 Entire plumage except primaries and their coverts and bastard- 

 wing white ; primaries black, inner webs brown-black, outer 

 primaries hoary-grey towards base ; primary-coverts and bastard- 

 wing ash-grey with dark brown shafts, in some outer webs slightly 

 mottled white, in some bastard-wing white. Sometimes feathers of 

 head, neck and under -parts stained rusty. Moult presumably as in 

 other geese, but no material moulting remiges examined. 



Juvenile. — Differs from adult in having upper-parts more or 

 less ash-brown ; fore-head greyish-white ; patch in front of eye, 

 crown down to eye, centre of nape, mantle and scapulars ash- 

 brown, feathers more or less tipped ash-white ; sometimes some 

 feathers of mantle greyish-white, freckled ash-brown ; remaining 

 upper-parts white (sometimes feathers of rump and upper tail-coverts 

 slightly freckled dusky-brown) ; under -parts white, feathers of 

 upper-breast, sides of body and flanks more or less mottled, speckled 

 or suffused dusky-brown ; tail-feathers ash-brown with broad white 

 tips and edged same, outer ones with inner webs more or less white 

 (sometimes tail-feathers white more or less mottled or freckled ash- 

 brown) ; primaries, their coverts and bastard-wing as in adult, but 

 sometimes primary-coverts white more or less freckled or clouded 



* Hartert ( Yog. pal. Fauna, 11, p. 1290) uses the name ccerulescens as 

 he considers "hyperboreus'''' and ccerulescens dimorphic forms of the same 

 species. While there is considerable evidence in support of this view (c/. 

 E. Hesse, J.f. O., 1915, pp. 156-166) proof is still wanting, and therefore it 

 seems better in this work to retain the name hyperboreus. — Ed. 



