THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
Nest and eggs. — ^The nidification is similar to that of the white -fronted 
goose, but the eggs are somewhat smaller and average about 3*0 inches by 
1 *95 inches. The eggs are laid in the end of May and in the early part of 
June. 
The weight does not appear to have been recorded, but is much less 
than that of the white -fronted goose, probably about 4 lbs. 
BEAN-GOOSE 
ANSER FABALIS 
Anser segetum, Gould, Birds Europe, v, pi. 348 (1837) ; Dresser, Birds Europe, vi, p. 363, 
pi. 412 (1879) ; Hume & Marshall, Game Birds Ind., Hi, p. 67, pi. viii (1880) ; Lilford, Col. 
Fig. Brit. Birds, part xxvi, pi. (1893); Saunders, III. Man. Brit. Birds, p. 401 (1899). 
Anser fabalis, Salvador!, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxvii, p. 99 (1895). 
Melanonyx segetum, Alph6raky, Geese of Europe, p. 110, pi. xi and xxiii (1905). 
DULT male. — ^Head and neck ash -brown, a narrow band of 
white feathers across the forehead and at the base of 
/ the mandible; as in the grey lag-goose and other allied 
f forms, the feathers of the neck are arranged in rows 
i with conspicuous furrows between. The plumage of the 
. ^ iLfc upperparts and wings is similar to that of the white - 
fronted goose, including the dark ash -brown of the back, etc., and the dark 
leaden -grey of the outer wing -coverts and quills. The breast and belly are 
uniform greyish -white, devoid of any black patches or bands. Iris dark 
brown ; bill with the nail, edges and basal part black, the intermediate 
portion orange ; legs and toes orange, claws black. Total length about 
32 inches; bill 2*5 inches; wing 19*0 inches; tail 5*3 inches; tarsus 
3*4 inches. 
Adult female. — Similar to the male but smaller. Wing about 16 *5 inches. 
General distribution. — The typical bean -goose breeds in Kolguev and 
Novaya Zeml^a and in North-eastern Russia, but in Finland and Lapland 
it appears to be met with on passage only. Eastwards of the Petchora 
its breeding -range probably extends to the Yenesei, and on migration 
it can be traced as far as Lake Baikal, but beyond that its existence is 
doubtful, and its place appears to be taken by the more Eastern thick - 
billed species Anser serrirostris. In winter the bean -goose is found over 
the greater part of Europe and Western Asia. 
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