Brewer's: Bean Goose

(The). A migratory bird which appears in England in the autumn of the year, and is so named from a mark on its bill like a horse-bean. It is next in size to the Grey Lag-goose. The term comes from the northern counties where the bean (goose) is common.

“Espèce d'oie dont les mandibules sont taillées en forme de feéveroles.” —Royal Dictionnaire.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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