250 REV. H. N. BONAR ON 
Nordenskjéld’s at Cape Thordsen, near which I picked up a 
cracked egg of this species. 
There is an indescribable air of cheeriness and contented- 
ness about this bright handsome bird. 
3. NYCTEA SCANDIACA (Linn.).—Snowy Owl. 
Of rare occurrence in Spitsbergen, though why this 
should be so, it is difficult to say. I found some large 
castings in the glen near the Vogelberg, which may have 
belonged to this species. 
*4, ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS (Baill.).—Pinkfooted Goose. 
Not uncommon in suitable spots. I found three empty 
nests of this species on July 28, on a narrow tongue of rock 
with precipitous sides, formed at the junction of two torrents, 
about nine miles inland among the Colorado Hills. The 
two streams had cut deeply into the soft rock, and had 
left a V-shaped projection, with walls thirty feet high. On 
the grassy top of this cliff-walled fortress the geese had 
nested, with what ultimate success I know not, for near at 
hand was the burrow of an Arctic Fox, round the mouth of 
which lay a good many birds’ bones. From the look of the 
down in the nests and from the veining of the membranes 
of the egg-shells lying about, one could see that the goslings 
had been hatched out. Whether the foxes had allowed them 
to fly is another matter. A good many adult birds were 
noted feeding in the mud some five miles up the Sassendal 
River on July 27. 
*5, BERNICLA BRENTA (Pall.).—Brent Goose. 
Fairly plentiful in Spitsbergen. ‘Some thirty adults, 
accompanied by at least as many goslings, seen on large 
ponds some distance up Advent Dal on August 2. Found 
several down-lined nests from which the young had been 
hatched, on the promontories and small islands of these ponds. 
Eight or ten birds probably of this species, seen on the 
tarns in Sassendal on July 28. 
