BRENT GEESE . 329 



neighbouring point on the coast : while, for a week, wild 

 swans became quite numerous, until a thaw set in abroad. 

 The geese, as anticipated, arrived with strict punctuality 

 within twenty-four hours of the ice-block in Danish 

 sounds ; but (unlike the swans), having once crossed the 

 sea, these elected to remain on our side throughout the 

 rest of the season. Despite their immense numbers, how- 

 ever, very few were obtained, owing to boisterous weather 

 and incessant gales of wind. This cold snap abroad 

 proved extremely short, lasting barely one week. 



Two exceptionally early occurrences of brent geese (in 

 each case a single bird) are recorded in my note-books. 

 A specimen curiously splashed with yellowish-brown on 

 the upper-coverts, was shot by my brother Alfred on 

 Fenham Flats, September 17th, 1886 — the day after he 

 had obtained the lesser white-fronted goose recorded later. 

 A second was shot by my cousin, E. H. C, on September 

 28th, 1905. 



Brent geese differ from the rest of the family in being 

 exclusively marine in their haunts ; speaking generally, 

 they spend the night at sea and the day on the tidal 

 oozes, but never (like the grey-geese) go inland to feed 

 in the fields, or travel a single yard beyond high-water 

 mark. 



The habits of brents, if left unmolested, are as follows : 

 After spending the night at sea, as the first streak of 

 dawn appears in the east, they rise from the waves, and, 

 after ten minutes or so spent in preliminary evolutions, 

 flying rapidly to and fro over the water, they head up, 

 flight after flight, for their feeding-grounds on the great 

 zostera-covered mud-flats of the harbour or estuary 

 frequented. But the tide affects their movements to 

 some extent, and they prefer to come in on a flowing tide, 



