ANATIDAE—GEESE.
195
contained in some letters by the Colonel, published in the Zoologist (40. xiv. 59).
He says :—
"On Feb. 4th, 1879, a large number of White-bellied Geese came [to the
Blackwater], probably from the south, as just before coming to us they
appeared at Leigh, on the north side of the mouth of the Thames. There
is little or no feed for them there, and only Geese which do not know the
country call there, but of course do not stay long. Their ignorance was also
shown by their foolishness when they came on our coast; a great many were
shot for five days, but these were very thin, Most likely they had been
southward, but had failed to find good feeding ground. I was not on the coast
till about Feb. 20th ; by that time the White-bellied Geese were fat and almost
unapproachable ; they were then mixed with the Black [-bellied] sort. They stayed,
to my knowledge, till March 15th,—I believe much longer. As usual, the
White-bellied [Geese] had no more young with them than the Black [-bellied]
If, as I suppose, the two varieties are bred in different parts of the world, the
cause of failure of breed must be widespread. I wonder whether those who
have been at their breeding-places have noticed which variety they saw. * * *
We have not only the two well-marked varieties, but every intermediate shade
—perhaps from intermediate places. * * * In the winter of 1880-81, * * * we
had not many White-bellied Geese ; I had some difficulty in getting a good
specimen for you, and another for Capt. Fielden. There were very few young
among them, but I think a larger proportion than among the black sort.
Last winter [1881-82], we had hardly any White-bellied ones at all. I heard
of one being shot among some black ones quite early in October—the only
one I heard of being got. My man saw one among a flock of black soon
after : and I saw only one White-bellied (a single bird) early in November or
late in October,—I forget which. One gunner—always on the coast—said he
had seen only one little lot of the White-bellied sort, about a dozen, all the
winter."
Upon the general subject of the Brent Goose on the Essex coast, and upon
the varying proportion of young birds to old in different years, Col. Russell
says :—
" The Brent Geese seem to come to the Essex coast pretty regularly about
the beginning of the second week in October. Sometimes the first I hear of
are not seen at all. With a fair wind they may be heard miles off at sea, far out
of sight. In 1880, my informant (a very experience 1 gunner) told me he was
afraid that there were no young ones, and he was right. Throughout the season
from the time of their first arrival, there was not one young one to a hundred
old ones. Last October, my informant about their arrival was another gunner,
who lives close to high water mark in the part most frequented by the Geese : he
told me that there were young ones among them. * * * To repeat the propor-
tions * * * : —Young [were] very numerous almost every season for about
twelve years up to 1878.
" 1878-79, about one young Goose to twelve old ones.
" 1879-80, great numbers of young all the season.
" 1880-81, about (or less than) one young Goose to a hundred old ones.
" 1881-82, nearly as many young as old.
" I do not think that of these birds the young and old migrate separately.
* * * The mildness or coldness of the winter has nothing whatever to do with
the presence or absence of young Brent Geese. * * * We had a good many Brent
Geese this last winter [1881-82] considering the mildness of the weather. Quite
early, there were about 300, and more came from time to time, till there were
1000 or more between the Blackwater and Crouch Rivers. * * #. Our coast is
more disturbed than ever. People have taken to hunting the fowl in steam-
launches. * * * Every bird that swims is driven away—even such rubbish as
Scoters—except the Brent Geese, which keep well out of the boat's way, but will
not, however, leave the country. I think they will som cease to visit us, the
disturbance getting worse and worse, and the feed failing more and more. The
Zostera marina is gradually disappearing everywhere on the Essex coast and in