594 



THE BERNICLE GOOSE. 



cooking it, a process which removes the rank savor of the flesh. Even the fishy -flavored sea- 

 birds can be rendered eatable by this curious process. 



The Gray -Lag Goose may be known from its congeners by the pinky bill, with its white 

 horny nail at the tip of the mandible. The head, nape, and upper part of the back are ashen- 

 brown, and the lower part of the back bluish-gray. The quill-feathers are leaden-gray ; the 

 chin, neck, and breast are gray ; and the abdomen white. The average length of the adult 

 male is not quite three feet. 



THE BEAN GOOSE has its chief residence in the Arctic circle and high northern latitudes, 

 and coming southward about October. 



Mr. Selby mentions that the Bean Goose breeds annually upon several of the Sutherland 

 lakes, and in some places it becomes nearly as tame as the common species, but refuses to 

 associate with them. These birds fly in flocks, varying in form according to their size, a little 

 band always flying in Indian file, while a large flock assiimes a V-like form, the sharp angle 

 being always forward. These flocks alight on fields and cultivated grounds, and often commit 

 sad ravages before they again take to wing. On account of this habit the bird is called the 

 Harvest Goose in France. 



The beak of this species is rather slender and pointed, and its color is black with an 

 orange centre. The head and upper parts are brownish-gray, the primaries are of a darker 

 hue, both tail-coverts are white, the throat and breast are grayish-white, and the abdomen is 

 pure white. The length of the bird is about thirty-four inches. 



THE BEENICLE GOOSE seems to prefer the western to the eastern coasts of Europe. 

 The name of Bernicle Goose is given to this bird because the olden voyagers thought that 

 it was produced from the common barnacle shell, and this notion had taken so strong a hold 

 of their minds that they published several engravings representing the bird in various stages 

 of its transformation. The positive manner in which they put forth their declaration is very 

 amusing. "What our eyes have seen, and hands have touched," writes Gerard in his 

 "Herbalist," "we shall declare. There is a small island in Lancashire, called the Pile of 

 Foulders, wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have 



been cast thither by ship- 

 wracke, and also the 

 trunks and bodies with 

 the branches of old and 

 rotten trees, cast up there 

 likewise ; wherein is found 

 a certain spume or froth, 

 that in time breedeth into 

 certain shels, in shape like 

 those of the muskle, but 

 sharper pointed and of a 

 whitish color, wherein is 

 contained a thing, in form 

 like a lace of silk finely 

 woven as it were together, 

 of a whitish color ; one 

 end whereof is fastened 

 into the inside of the shel, 

 even as the fish of oisters 

 and muskles are ; the 



BERNICLE GoosK.-^mkto leucopsi,. other end is made fast 



unto the belly of a rude 



masse or lumpe, which in time commeth to the shape and form of a bird ; when it is perfectly 

 formed, the shel gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or string ; 



