ANATID.E. 



.199 



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THE BRENT GOOSE. 

 Bernicla brknta (Pallas). 



The Brent is the most numerous and generally distributed of the 

 Geese which visit us ; and, in varying numbers, is found on our 

 coasts — particularly the east and south — throughout the cold 

 months of the year. Unless wounded, it is seldom seen on inland 

 waters, and it passes a great part of the day and night at sea ; while 

 at other times it frequents the extensive mud-flats and sand-bars on 

 the shore which are exposed at every ebb-tide. Large flocks resort 

 to the vicinity of Holy Island on the Northumbrian coast, and 

 multitudes have been observed in some seasons on the Cromarty 

 and Dornoch Firths. In the Orkneys and Shetlands, however, it is 

 unfrequent ; while in the Hebrides and along the west side of 

 Scotland it is far less abundant and less regular in its visits than the 

 Bernacle. Vast quantities occur in many places on the shores of 

 Ireland. 



In cold weather the Brent Goose migrates to the Faroes, the 

 coasts of Scandinavia, and the shores of Europe generally ; 

 occasionally reaching the African and Asiatic sides of the basin of 

 the Mediterranean. It is not improbable that it breeds sparingly in 

 some parts of Iceland ; and considerable numbers nest on Spits- 

 bergen, Novaya Zemlya, and the coasts and islands of Arctic Siberia 

 as far north as man has yet penetrated. On the I'acific side of 

 North America it is represented by B. nigricans, in which the white 



