HI Gene et al.:
From A.C.Bent's Life Histories of N.A. wildfowl (page 198):"It was named
the bean goose because of its well-established habit of arrived in England
with great regularyty during bean-harvesting time in October; beans were
very extensively cultivated in certain districts, to which these geese
resorted in large numbers to feed on the remains of the harvest."

Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
ipaulsen at krl.org
A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
"Rallidae all the way"