THE BEAN-GOOSE. 

 Anser segetum, J. F. Gmelin. 

 Plate 43. 



This species differs from the Grey-Lag and White-fronted Geese in having a 

 black nail on the point of the bill, which is orange as far as the nostrils, and 

 then black at the base. Comparing it with the Pink-footed Goose, Lord Lilford 

 says [Birds of Northamptonshire and Neighbourhood) : "In appearance on wing, 

 note, and habits — in fact, in almost every particular except that of size, and a 

 few slight differences that are imperceptible at a distance — the Bean-Goose so 

 closely resembles the Pink-footed that I could never be quite certain of dis- 

 tinguishing between them except when ' in hand,' and even in the latter case I 

 have found that some of the external characters quoted by authors as distinctive 

 are by no means constant. As a rule, I think that the Bean-Goose on its travels 

 adheres more strictly to the single file or horizontal <-formation than other 

 species." 



The Bean-Goose visits us in the autumn, coming soon after harvest, and re- 

 maining through the winter. It is said to occur more frequently on the western 

 coasts of England and Scotland than the eastern, and is common in Ireland. It 

 goes north to breed in Kolguev, Novaya Zembla, and other lands within the 

 Arctic Circle, returning to the more temperate parts of Europe and Western 

 Asia for the winter. 



According to Seebohm's British Birds, in the breeding season it " repairs to 

 the lakes on the tundra, and chooses a hillock on the bank, or an islet in the 

 lake itself where the rushes and sedge are tall enough to conceal the sitting bird. 

 A slight hollow is scraped in the soil and lined with grass, moss, sometimes a 

 few feathers, and always plenty of the light grey down of the bird itself." The 

 eggs vary from three to four or even six in number, and are creamy-white in 

 colour. 



III. 



17 



c 



