132 
British Birds. 
THE GREY 
LAG-GOOSE. 
(Anser anser.) 
The Snow Goose. The Canada Goose (p. 134). 
The Snow- 
„ Goose, remark- 
SNOW-GOOSE. 
1 j. u \ able for its 
(Chen hyperboreus.) 
beautiful white 
plumage and black wing-feathers, is 
an inhabitant of the Arctic Regions of 
North America, but has occurred 
in Northern Europe. It has been 
noticed in Yorkshire and Cumberland, 
but the only birds as yet captured 
within British limits are a pair shot 
in Co. Wexford, in Ireland, in No- 
vember, 1871. The nest is a mere 
hollow in the ground, and the eggs 
are five in number, of a dirty white 
colour, about three- and - a- quarter 
inches in length. 
This Goose is 
to be told by the 
colour of the bill, 
which is flesh-coloured and has a white nail at the tip. The 
feet are also flesh-coloured, and the rump is light grey ; there is no sign of white 
on the forehead. The Grey Lag-Goose used at one time to breed in Lincolnshire, 
but its nesting-area is now restricted to the North of Scotland and the Hebrides: 
it has not been found breeding in Ireland. It nests in Central and Northern 
Europe, but is known in other parts of the Western Palaearctic Region as a winter 
visitor only. 
The present species feeds on grass and water-plants and frequents the stubble- 
fields to pick up grain, retiring at night-time to quiet places on the sea-shore. The 
nest is a large structure of dead reeds and sedge, and is lined with moss and down. 
The eggs are five or six in number, and are pure white when first laid, but afterwards 
become discoloured with the nest-stains, and appear of a dirty yellowish white 
colour; they measure from three-and-a-quarter to three-and-a-half inches in length. 
This is a smaller bird than the Grey Lag-Goose, and is 
distinguished by its orange-coloured feet and bill, the latter 
having a white nail at the end ; the white forehead is also 
a character which separates it from Anser anser at a glance. It 
is only a winter visitor to Great Britain, and is more frequently observed in Ireland 
than in England or Scotland, its breeding-home being in Northern Europe from Scandi- 
navia to Central Siberia, as well as in Iceland and Greenland. In winter it is found 
throughout Europe and occurs at the same season in North-western India and China. 
THE WHITE 
FRONTED-GOOSE. 
(Anser albifrons.) 
