BERNACLE-GOOSE 69 
BERNACLE-GOOSE. Bernicla leucopsis (Bechstein). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. v, pl. 7; 
Dresser, ‘ Birds of Hurope,’ vol. vi, pl. 415, fig. 1; Lilford, 
‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. vii, pl. 26; Alpheraky, ‘ Geese 
of Hurope and Asia,’ pl. 20. 
The Bernacle and its congener, the Brent, are essentially 
Sea-geese, and they resemble each other in many ways. 
Both display a large amount of black in the plumage, the 
Brent especially so. At a distance the Bernacle is distin- 
guishable by the bold and well-defined patches of white 
and lavender-grey, which render it a remarkably bright 
and handsome bird. 
This species 1s a visitor of restricted range to our 
shores in autumn and winter. Its distribution contrasts 
with that of the Pink-footed, and in a less degree with that 
of the Brent Goose; thus the Bernacle mostly frequents 
the west coasts of the British Isles, whereas the two former 
species are more often seen along the east coasts. Large 
numbers of Bernacles arrive at Solway Firth about the end 
of September; visiting at the same time the islands off the 
coasts of Donegal, Mayo and other parts of the west, north 
and north-east coasts of Ireland. 
The Bernacle has been taken while migrating at Aran- 
more, where great numbers have been reported on passage. 
This island appears to be in the direct migration line from 
East Greenland, the principal breeding-resort of this Goose. 
To the Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands it is not an infre- 
quent visitor. 
I have sometimes seen solitary birds resting on the sea, 
close to the city of Dublin. They probably had flown from 
ornamental waters in the vicinity. This is all the more 
likely, as most of my observations were made in July, when 
the Geese, in a wild state, would have been breeding in 
the far north. 
Imaginative persons, living in the more remote districts, 
still believe that Bernacle and Brent Geese—a distinction 
seldom being made between the two species—are hatched 
from Barnacles which hang on drift timber. 
There is another familar legend still in vogue, which 
endeavours to account for the birth of these Geese, namely, 
that certain trees overhanging the sea contained small 
round berry-like bodies on the ends of their branches ; 
