winters in wliicli the London markets are not well supplied with it. A fine-conditioned gander weighs from
five to six pounds, and measures about 4 feet 3 inches from tip to tip o f the wings when spread, so.that it
is a smaller bird than the Bean- and Grey Lag-Geese. The sexes are so nearly alike in colouring that they
are scarcely distinguishable; both have the black interrupted bars on the breast, a character which differs
considerably in extent in different individuals.
Macgillivray gives so meagre an account o f this species that it would seem to be far less plentiful in
Scotland than in England; yet Sir William Jardine has met with it in Dumfriesshire and in the Edinburgh
market, and St. John says that “ it arrives in Morayshire from its breeding-quarters in the arctic and
northern regions about the middle o f October in small companies of from six to twelve, and, if left tolerably
undisturbed, frequents regularly the same swamp or piece o f marsh till the end o f April, feeding on aquatic
plants, and in the spring frequently grazing on the young clover or green wheat. It is more easy of
approach than any other wild goose;” and he “ has often seen it feeding in small hollows and spots easily
got at, where the Bean-Goose would never trust itself. Its cry is very loud and peculiar, sometimes
wonderfully resembling the loud langh o f a human being, whence its trivial name o f “ Laughing Goose.”
Sir John Richardson mentions that the Indians o f the American fur-countries imitate this sound by patting
the mouth with their hand, while they repeat the syllable wak.” Mr. Thompson informs us that it “ is a
regular winter visitant to Ireland, where, as in Great Britain, it is, next to the Bean-Goose, the species most
frequently met with, and is brought during the season o f every year to the Dublin market.”
Mr. Selby remarks that “ this species varies from the Bean-Goose in preferring low and marshy districts
rather than the upland and drier haunts affected by that bird, and in such localities subsists on aquatic
grasses, being very seldom seen to frequent corn- or stubble-fields.” A specimen sent to him which had been
killed near Alnwick, in Northumberland, “ had its stomach’gorged with the tender shoots and leaves o f the
common clover ( Trifolium pratense), npon which it had beenf feeding on the termination o f a severe snowstorm.”
The bird also feeds on the leaves o f turnips, beetles, other insects, and their larvae. Its flight
is described as vigorous, and its gait on the ground as characterized by grace, rapidity, and ease. When a
flock proceeds to any distance, the birds o f which it is composed keep in single file.
The White-fronted Goose is not known to breed in a wild state in any part of our islands; and a pair in
the Gardens o f the Zoological Society in the Regent’s Park brought forth their brood from one o f the islands
to which they were restricted, and showed great anxiety for their safety. The egg is pale huffy white, about
2 inches and 10 lines in length by 1 inch and 11 lines in breadth.
Speaking of this bird, as seen in Norfolk, Mr. Stevenson says:— ■
“ This species, which is never observed in very large flocks, can scarcely he called a regular winter visitant,
being rarely seen in our markets, except in severe weather. As an exception, however, to this rule, in the mild
winter of 1851-2, a very unusual number of wild geese were shot in different parts of the county; and on the 20th
of December, the Norwich market exhibited the unusual appearance, amongst other fowl, of two couple and a half
of White-fronted, with Bean and Bemicle Geese, from Hickling and other localities ; and another White-fronted,
from Blakeney, was sent up to Norwich the same day. All these birds were in perfect plumage—the White-fronted
Geese, from the markings on the breast, being evidently adult; but their poor condition seemed to indicate ‘ hard
times,’ although, as already remarked, the weather was then unusually mild with us, and continued so up to the
following February. From Mr. Dowell’s notes for the same year (1851) I find that on the 18th of December
he saw a flock of some twenty White-fronted Geese at Holkham, and oji the same day he received a fine specimen
which had been killed at Blakeney. This goose is considered by Lord Leicester rare at Holkham, except in
hard weather, when it commonly appears in flocks of from five to ten, and, being less shy, is easier of approach
than others ; but singularly enough, during the severe winter of 1870-71 this species, as Lord Leicester informs
me, was not seen at all at Holkham; and a single adult bird which I purchased in the Norwich market, on the
18th of February, was the only example that came under my notice during that inclement season.
“ The few recorded in my own note-books, since 1854, have been all killed during sharp frosts, between
December and February—which agrees with Hunt’s description of this species, that ‘ they visit the fenny parts of
this county in small flocks, in severe winters.’ In West Norfolk, according to Mr. Lubbock, a good many White-
fronted Geese are sometimes observed with the Bean-, or, as now distinguished, more probably with the Pinkfooted.
Blakeney and Holkham have been already mentioned as localities where it is occasionally remarked; and
the brackish waters of Salthouse would seem to have attractions; as a fine old bird in my own collection was
killed there on the 22nd of December 1866, and Mr. Dowell had one sent him from the same place so early as
the month of October, 1850. The Messrs. Paget describe them as * occasionally seen on Breydon; ’ and Hickling
Broad appears to be a favourite resort in sharp ■feather.
“ The majority of specimens procured are i®immature plumage, the bars on the breast being either wanting or
only partially assumed.”
For further particulars as to the localities in Norfolk in which this bird has been procured, I must refer
the reader to my friend Stevenson’s third volume on the birds o f that county.
The front figure is about half the natural size; the young birds somewhat less than life.