280 



of a species of goose, smaller in size than any of the genus that 

 I hacl previously examined. In botn, the length was 67 mm, the 

 breadth being 45 and 46 V 2 m,n respectively. The shape was cylindri- 

 cal, much rounded at the ends, shell hard with large pores, colour 

 shining white, with an almost imperceptible tinge of yellowish. The 

 size of these eggs — they were scarcely bigger than the normal 

 eggs of Mergus serrator — induced me to record them as those 

 of A. erythropus, 1 albeit the Borgevær preserve, owing to its- 

 westerly position and diverse local reasons, apparently did not 

 fulfil the conditions of the occurrence of this species in the Scan- 

 dinavian peninsula. 



Since then, several important circumstances have led me to 

 doubt the correctness of this assumption; presuming that any 

 particulars connected with the distribution of the Anser species 

 in this country will prove of interest, I have recorded the case, • 

 though as yet unexplained. 



- Mr. Irgens has kindly supplied me with the following data 

 bearing on this question: — 



„A pair of geese, with white cheeks, but having the rest of 

 the plumage and the feet dark, arrive regularly every season at 

 Borgevær, about Ist May, a fortnight later than the common grey- 

 goose. 2 This strange bird, which is also to be distinguished by its 

 cry, we call by the name of „Fjeldskarv" — it has a slight resem- 

 blance to a Skarv 3 — or „Finmark-goose". It is exceedingly shy 

 in its habits and difficult to approach. This year (1872) it had 

 deposited its first egg (which was tåken) by the 9th May, where- 

 upon it moved off to a neighbouring islet. It builds a nest composed 

 of moss and straws, sometimes on the narrow ledges of the rocks, 

 and sometimes in a sheltered locality, under stones or isolated rocky 

 masses. The full complement of eggs is 5. This is the only pair 

 that breeds at Borgevær, and they have been regular visitants for 

 some years past, though never allowed to hatch their first brood." 



1 Vid. Sclsk. Forh. 1871, p. 59. 



2 A. cinereus, Meyer. 



3 Cormorant. 



