ANATID.E. 



409 



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THE BERNACLE GOOSE. 

 Bernicla leucopsis (Bechstein). 



Competent observers seem to agree that the Bernacle Goose 

 is a rather uncommon winter-visitor on the east coasts of England 

 and Scotland, and chiefly occurs there when the weather is very 

 severe on the Continent ; while on the shores of the English 

 Channel as well as inland, it is decidedly rare. On the west side, 

 from Cornwall northward, it is not infrequent, and it is of regular 

 occurrence in Lancashire and Cumberland ; and in the upper part 

 of the Solway Firth thousands are sometimes seen from the end of 

 September — when they begin to arrive from the north-west — until the 

 latter part of March. The same may be said of the Outer and Inner 

 Hebrides and the neighbouring mainland, except that the birds are 

 later in leaving for their breeding-grounds. To the Orkneys this 

 species is a tolerably regular visitor, and Mr. Harvie-Brown found it 

 plentiful in autumn in the south of Shetland, where, however, it 

 does not pass the winter. In Ireland it is somewhat local, but 

 rather abundant on the north and north-west coasts, as well as along 

 Dundalk Bay on the east. There is, however, some difficulty in 

 tracing its distribution, inasmuch as the Brent Goose is often 

 misnamed " Bernacle." 



In the Faeroes and Iceland this species is of irregular occurrence ; 

 while it is unknown in Arctic i.\merica except as a very rare visitor 



