138 THE BIRDS OF DORSET. 



Bill pink with the nail and base black, legs and feet 

 pink. It has been rarely met with in Dorsetshire, 

 only two instances of its occurrence having come 

 under my notice. One was shot at Moreton in 

 1855, and another in Tolpiddle Meadows, November 

 1, 1881. 



BEKNICLE GOOSE. Bernicla leucopsis, (Bechstein). 



Yarrell, iv. p. 286 ; Dresser, vi. p. 397 ; Ibis List, p. 118 ; Anser 

 leucopsis, Harting, p. 6 1 ; Seebohm, iii. p. 512; Anas ery- 

 thropus, Pulteney's List, p. 20. 



The intensely black-and-white appearance which 

 this Goose presents will always serve to distinguish 

 it at a distance from any other species. It is this 

 bird which was fabled to be produced from the 

 parasitic cirrhipod Lepas anatifera, or Barnacle, so 

 quaintly described and figured in Gerard's "Herbal," 

 1597. According to Pulteney, it appears on the 

 Dorsetshire coast in October, but only in inclement 

 weather. One is stated to have been seen on January 

 30, 1857, in Weymouth Backwater (W. Thompson) ; 

 and the same winter some were shot there, one of 

 which is preserved in the possession of Mr. H. 

 Groves. A specimen in the County Museum, also, 

 is believed to have been shot on our coast some 

 years ago. The last of which I have heard were 

 shot on the coast in February 1879, when one or 

 two were sent to Mr. Hart, of Christchurch, for 

 preservation. 



