582 Mr. A.. Trevor-Battye on the 



their legs, and the young birds when half-grown can run as 

 fast as the old ones ; the latter, if hurried, run with out- 

 stretched wings, which hinder them against the wind, but 

 if too closely pressed, the goose, which leads (the gander 

 brings up the rear), will suddenly drop, and the whole party 

 follow her example. You can then walk up and look at them 

 lying there, all in precisely the same attitude, with bodies 

 flattened down and necks outstretched on the ground, so that 

 you must stir them up in order to start them off again. The 

 nest is well guarded by the gander, who will leave his sentry- 

 post and walk round and round the sitting goose on a little 

 track made by his steps, resenting your intrusion by a con- 

 tinued series of short sharp notes, not unlike those of the 

 Brent. 



-J 6. Bernicla BRENTA (Pall.). Brent Goose. 



I did not personally find any evidence of the immense 

 numbers in which this species has been described as breeding 

 in Spitsbergen, but no doubt there are a fair number 

 scattered about over the small islands, although there were 

 actually none on those which I visited off Cape Boheman, 

 nor on the two islands of the Flower Garden, Cape Wijk ; 

 while on the Goose Islands there was not a Goose or a 

 Duckj but there was a fine family of foxes. Further, when 

 the nesting was over, instead of the vast numbers of these 

 birds which I had expected to find on the sea, I only saw 

 two lots *. One lot, about 40 in number, unable to fly, I 

 moved ofi" the beach under the snow-fort in Lost Island Bay 

 on July 27th, and on July 22nd saw a lot of about 25 in 

 Dickson's Bay. I was entangled in the ice at the time, the 

 boat being entrapped between the old "bay ''-ice and large 

 rough hummocks of glacier- and floe-ice which had drifted 

 in from Ice Fjord. These Brents were standing about round 

 the blow-holes of the great seals {Phoca barbata), of which 

 very many were lying on the ice. They were, perhaps, half 

 a mile off" when I first noticed them, and almost immediately 

 set ofl" running straight towards my boat. Peterson and I 



* [" A skein of two hundred Brents passed south." Smeerenberg Bay, 

 Aug. 26th : A. PjAe.— Edd.] 



