244 
AT,LEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 
Adult Male — General colour above black, including the 
centre of the lower back and rump, the sides of the latter 
being pure white like the upper tail-coverts ; wings and tail 
black, with greyish white margins to the median and greater 
coverts ; crown of head and entire hind-neck black, separated 
by a band of white from the mantle ; sides of face and throat 
black ; a large loral patch of white ; below the eye a small 
white spot; ear-coverts forming a large chestnut patch, en- 
tirely encircled by white, which skirts the black of the hind- 
neck in a broad line ; lower throat, fore-neck, and sides of 
neck bright chestnut, separated from the white on the sides of 
the neck by a line of black, and again by another line of black 
across the lower fore-neck, this black line being continuous 
with the black of the hind-neck; across the chest a narrow 
line of white, continuous with the white band across the 
mantle ; entire breast black, the feathers having white bases ; 
the entire abdomen and under tail-coverts white, as well as 
the feathers of the thighs, some of which are black-tipped ; 
sides of the body white, the lower flanks handsomely banded 
with black; axillaries and under wing-coverts black; bill 
nearly black ; feet and toes dark brown, nearly black ; iris 
hazel. Total length, 20 inches; culmen, i-o; wing, i3'5 ; 
tail, 4'6 ; tarsus, 2'i. ’ 
Adult Female. — Similar to the male, but slightly smaller. 
Young Male — Has the same markings as the adult, but the 
chestnut is much paler and the black is tinged with brown, 
and the feathers of the upper surface have distinct brown 
edges, especially on the wing-coverts ; the white bands across 
the upper mantle and on the loiver fore-neck are not so well 
defined as in the old bird. 
Range in Great Britain. — A very rare visitor, of which ei»ht 
authenticated occurrences are on record, the first datin'^ back 
to 1776, when a specimen was procured near London, and 
is still preserved in the Newcastle Museum. Nearly all the 
occurrences of the species ha\ e taken place on the east coast 
but Mr. Howard Saunders mentions two in South Devon, and 
one m Caithness. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The Red-breasted Goose 
breeds in the lower valleys of the Ob and the Yenesei Rivers 
