Letters , Extracts , and Notes. 
563 
winter. Many specimens were caught, and about one 
hundred were brought to and sold in the markets o£ 
Florence. I believe that about sixty of them were preserved, 
and are now in the Museum of Florence, in my own Museum, 
and in the collections of Marquis Ridolfi, Messrs. Pierotti, Ra- 
gionieri, Zaffagnini, Signorina Picchi, &c., all from Florence. 
After the many specimens I have examined/1 think 
it useful to state that in its general brown colouring this 
Goose varies very much, and shews considerable differences, 
and that such variations are not dependent on either sex or 
age. The number of teeth on the side of the upper mandible 
is usually about 28, and more seldom 26. 
From information received from Manfredonia I find that 
this Goose was met with there in parties of all sizes, but more 
often in small flocks of four or five than in larger companies, 
cackling incessantly when in flight. They frequented 
localities rich in aquatic grasses rather than the corn- and 
stubble-fields. The flight of these Geese was either con¬ 
tinuous and uninterrupted, or gradual, with more or less 
prolonged halts at convenient feeding-grounds. They fed 
exclusively, so far as my information goes, on vegetable 
matter, tender shoots of grass, water-weeds, young corn and 
other spring crops, and on grain of all kinds. These Geese 
were extremely shy, cautious, and well on the alert when 
feeding, so that it was very difficult to approach them. 
This Goose is highly esteemed as a table bird and the flesh 
is delicious, but everything depends on the food that the 
birds last fed on. 
Some young birds in the first plumage with the white 
feathering entirely absent on the top of forehead and along 
the base of the upper mandible and replaced by black or 
brown-black were mistaken for A. brachyrhynchus, but in the 
large number at my disposal I was unable to find a single 
Pink-footed Goose. 
I am, Sirs, yours &c., 
Count E. Arrigoni Degli Oddi. 
Padua, 
April 21st, 1909. 
