652 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
May 15th from the Ezra Tomb district by the Arabs. Only one specimen was 
obtained, a male from Ezra’s Tomb on February 23rd, by Buxton. I have com- 
pared the bird -with a large series of African birds ; these latter vary 
very much inter se according to age and perhaps individually, and I can match 
this Mesopotamian bird in every detail with many African skins. A race has 
been described from the sea of Antioch by Oustalet as chantrei (Ann. Sc. Nat., 
Paris, July 1882, art. 7). All the differentiating characters which Oustalet gives 
for his race are to be found in many African birds, as already pointed out by 
Tristram (Ibis., 1886, p. 41) ; whether chantrei is really separable from rufus I do 
not know, but as this Mesopotamian skin cannot be picked out from a series of 
African ones I must place the Mesopotamian birds as belonging to the typical 
race, at any rate for the time being. 
Mr. Jourdain informs me that of Darter’s eggs he received from Tomlinson 
(sub nomine chantrei) “ some were white, unmarked and some had the peculiar 
violet brown blotches already noted in the eggs of this species by Ottosson in 
eggs from the Lake of Antioch.” 
iq6. Grey Lag Goose. Anser anser. 
Anser anser (L.) (Syst. Nat. Ed., x, p. 123, 1758 — Sweden). 
Grey Geese are extraordinarily abundant in the great marshes and swamps 
of lower Mesopotamia. The main flocks arrive about the last week in October, 
and from then onwards flock after flock may be seen passing over or arriving 
daily at their winter quarters, though the first flocks may arrive a week or two 
earlier. Early in March flocks may be seen again wending their way north and 
most of the winter visitors have gone by the end of the month. Both of these 
geese are abundant in winter and many are caught by the Arabs and brought 
into the markets, such as at Amara, alive for sale. 
The Grey Lag Goose besides being a winter visitor is certainly also a resident 
in small numbers, and very late and very early records probably belong to those 
birds which remain during the summer in the marshes. Thus Logan Home reports 
some stUl left, mostly paired, on May 5th, and there are quite a number of records 
of small numbers seen throughout July in such places as Suweikiyeh marsh, 
marshes near Ezra’s Tomb, and at Gurmat Ali and Akkarkuf in early August. 
On Maj^ 21st when Buxton was at the Hamar Lake he obtained three goslings 
from the Arabs who had caught them in the reed beds there ; two of these were 
eaten by mud turtles and the third Buxton preserved. Both Buxton and Chess- 
man say that they have never seen domestic geese in the country, nor any 
semi-tame Grey Lags in any of the villages ; so that it seems perfectly certain 
that some Grey Lags stop and breed in the marshes. “ Gaggles of Grey Lag used 
to fly in the early morning above no man’s land on the way to the Suweikiyeh 
marsh and were invariably greeted by a ragged Are from the Turkish front line. 
On one occasion a bird was dropped behind our front line trenches and was 
safely retrieved, although a machine-gun was laid on to it. The O. C. snipers in 
my battalion brought down one with his rifle ; and aeroplanes used to practise 
their Lewis guns on these birds. Many of the gaggles which frequented the 
marshes near Basra roosted during the day well out on the bare desert ” 
(Magrath). Flocks of Geese passing overhead afford tempting shots with a 
rifle but very few were obtained in this way. 
Three specimens examined : — Legait, 12-16 (Livesay); Samarra, 25-12-17 
(C. R. P.); pull Hamar L. 21-5-18 (P. A. B.). 
197. White-fronted Goose. Anser albifrons. 
Anser albifrons (Scop.) (Annus 1, Hist. Nat., p. 69, 1769— Carniola). 
There is little to add about the White-fronted goose, it appears to come and 
go at the same time as the Grey Lag. There is no suggestion that it breeds in 
