134 



British Birds 



THE PINK- 

 FOOTED GOOSE. 

 {Anser 

 byachxrhynclius.) 



unalsle to fly and have to hide themselves for protection, until their wings are 

 grown again. The nest consists of a slight hollow, with a little moss and is plentiful!}' 

 lined with the grey down of the bird. The eggs are three or four in number, 

 creamy-white, but becoming gradually stained with buff as incubation proceeds. 



Tlie present species is rather smaller than .t. fiibulis, which 

 it resembles in its grey wings and rump, but it is easily 

 distinguished by its pink feet and by the pink band on the bill. 

 It arri\cs in Great Britain in the autumn and visits principallv 

 the east coast of Scotland and England : in the west of Scotland 

 and the Hebrides it is more rare, and is almost unknown in Ireland. It is found 

 in Iceland and Spitsbergen during the breeding-season, but very fevv details are 

 known as to the nesting of the Pink-footed Goose. Numbers are to be seen near 

 Holkham, in Norfolk, during the autumn and winter, where they are protected b)' the 

 Earl of Leicester, and frequent the lake in large numbers, winging their way out to 

 sea when the tide falls and the sand-banks become e.xposed. As with other Geese, 

 the flight is performed in a ' V ' formation. The nest is said to resemble that of the 

 Bean-Goose, and the eggs are similar in colour and shape. 



The Brent Geese differ from the True Geese, the members 



of the fore-going genus Anser, in not having the serrations on 

 the upper mandible visible from the outside of the bill. One of 



THE BERNACLE 



GOOSE. 



iBmnta lnwupsis.) 



them, the Canada Goose {Braittn canadensis) has for a long time 



held a place in the British List, but is now, by universal consent, eliminated, as the 

 only occur'-ences have been those of escaped birds. 



The Bernacle Gooec is a handsome species, remarkable ior its white-banded 

 upper surface, and barred head and neck: the forehead is white. It is a some- 

 what rare visitor to Biitain from the north of Europe, but very little is known of 

 its breeding places, which are supposed to be in Iceland, Greenland and Spitsbergen, 

 it occurs chiefly 

 on the western 

 coasts of Scot- 

 land, and is seen 

 sometimes i n 

 very large num- 

 bers, as is the 

 case also in the 

 north of Ire- 

 land. In winter 

 .t is found on 

 many of the 

 coasts of Europe, 

 and even visits 



The Bernacle Goose. 



The Bkent Goose. 



