122 AJfATID^. 



Brenta bemicla, Heugl. Rets. Nordpolarmeer, iii. p. 132 (1874). 

 Anser (Breiithus) torquattis, Rchnic. Oi-n. Centralbl. 1882, p. 37 ; 



id. Vocj. zool. Giirt. p. 65 (1882). 

 Anser brenta glaucogaster, Seebh. Hist, Br. Birds, iii. p. 508 (1885). 

 Eranta brenta, Dubois, Faun, Belg., Ois. ii. p. 388, pi. 243 (Livr. 



143-152, 1892). 



Adult male. Head, neck, and breast sooty-black, sharply defined 

 from the brown-grey colour of the upper and under parts ; two 

 white patches, with some admixture of black, on the sides of the 

 neck ; rump brown-black ; upper tail-coverts, vent, and under tail- 

 coverts white ; the feathers of the upper and under parts with 

 somewhat lighter edgings, quite distinct and whitish on the flanks ; 

 quills and tail-feathers brownish black ; under wing-coverts brown- 

 grey : bill black ; irides dark brown ; tarsus, toes, and webs black, 

 with an olive-green tinge upon the tarsal joint and the upper 

 surface of the toes. Total length about 21 inches, wing 13, tail 3'5, 

 culmen 1*5, tarsus 2"1. 



Female. Similar to the male, but a little smaller. 



Toung. Paler than the adults ; no white patches on the sides of 

 the neck ; the dark colour of the upper breast scarcely darker than 

 the underparts ; no white edgings to the feathers of the flanks ; 

 wing-coverts with conspicuous pale edges, almost white on the 

 median and greater ones ; secondaries with white tips. 



In this species there seem to be two forms— a dark-bellied one 

 {B. hernicla), which, according to Mr. Seebohm, breeds in the 

 Taimyr peninsula, Xovaia Zemlia, Franz-Josef Land, and Spits- 

 bergen ; and a light-bellied one {B. glaucogaster)., which lives in 

 Arctic America, from the west coast of Greenland as far west as 

 the Parry Islands. I would have kept the two forms separate if 

 it were not that a specimen from Kovaia Zemlia, mentioned below, 

 belongs to the light-bellied form, and, moreover, this bird has the 

 white on the sides of the neck meeting in front, which character 

 is likewise often found in specimens of the dark form killed in 

 England. The question of the specific distinction of the two forms 

 requires further consideration, but the material at my disposal in the 

 British Museum was not sufficient for me to settle it satisfactorily. 



Hah. Taimyr peninsula, Novaia Zemlia, Franz-Josef Land, and 

 Spitsbergen, whence it migrates in winter to the shores of Northern 

 Europe, sparingly down to the basin of the Mediterranean ; Arctic 

 America from Greenland as far west as the Parry Islands, and north 

 of lat. 73° as far as land is known to extend (Seebohm). 



a. Underparts greyish, paler. 



a. Ad. sk. N. America. The Admiralty [P.]. 



b. Ad. sk. Grinnell Land,lat. 82° 33', June. Capt. Feildeu [P.]. 



c. $ ad. sk. Lat. 82^ 30' [H. W. Feilden). Voy. of H.M.S. 



' Alert.' 



d. Pull. sk. Mushroom Point, Jiily {II. W. Voy. of H.M.S. 



Feilden). 'Alert.' 



e. cJad.sk. Musk Ox Bay, June (C. Ifari!). Voy. of H.M.S. 



' Discovery.' 



