BARNACLE GOOSE. 



'T^HIS handsome Goose is a native of the northern por- 

 tions of the Old World, and can only be regarded as a 

 straggler into North America, and it is a doubtful question 

 whether most of the examples that have been killed within 

 our limits had not escaped from confinement, rather than 

 were bona fide immigrants to our shores. The first one 

 procured was at Rupert House, on the southern end of 

 Hudson Bay, and was obtained by Mr. B. R. Ross. This 

 was undoubtedly a straggler from Greenland, the south- 

 ern end of which this species regularly visits. It has also 

 been obtained in Nova Scotia and in Currituck Sound, 

 North Carolina, that former paradise for Water Fowl. 

 Long Island, also at one time a famous resort for all 

 kinds of game, has yielded up one specimen. It would 

 be diiBcult to name any species of bird that had ever 

 visited the Atlantic seaboard an example of which had not 

 at some time been procured on Long Island. This Goose 

 is very abundant in various parts of the Old World, 

 and resembles in its habits those of the Brant Geese of 

 our own land. It feeds on grasses and plants, and can 

 be readily domesticated and becomes as tame as the ordi- 

 nary farmyard Goose. It is supposed to breed in Siberia, 

 on the Tundras or barren grounds, and on the shores of 

 the White Sea. It visits the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and 

 Spitzbergen, and in its migrations is also found in the 

 British Islands and many parts of the Continent. 



It is a handsomer bird than the other allied species of 

 Geese, and is about the siz.c of the llrant. This species 

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