OF THE BBITISH ISLANDS. 333 



Family ANATimE. Genus BBANTA. 



Subfamily ANSERINE. 



WHITE-BELLIED BRENT GOOSE. 



BKANTA GLAUCOGASTEE (Brehm). 



Bernicla glaucogaster, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 849 (1831). 



Anser brenta glaucogaster (Brehm), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 508 (1885) ; 



Seebohm, Col. Fig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 33, pi. 10 (1896). 

 Bernicla brenta glaucogaster (Brehm), Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. 



p. 156 (1894). 



Geographical distribution. British : The White-bellied Brent Goose, 

 which with some hesitation we have separated specifically from the Brent Goose, 

 is a winter visitor to the coasts of the British Islands, where its distribution is 

 not known to differ from that of the typical Brent Goose, although the bird is a much 

 rarer one. Intermediate forms between the two races occur on our coasts, and 

 are perhaps more numerous than the thorough-bred white-bellied race. Foreign : 

 Northern Nearctic region ; more southerly in winter. It breeds on the coasts and 

 islands north of lat. 72, from the Arctic archipelago to the east coasts of Baffin 

 Bay and north to the limits of known land. It has recently been observed on 

 Nova Zembla and Kolguev, so that its normal geographical area may prove 

 to be circumpolar. Captain Feilden, during the Nares Arctic expedition, found 

 this Goose breeding in lat. 82^, near Knot Harbour. It winters on the Atlan- 

 tic seaboard of North America as far south as Texas, the birds appearing on our 

 coasts in winter, reaching our shores by way of Spitzbergen and Franz- Josef Land. 



Allied forms. Branta bernicla, the typical race of Brent Goose, a British 

 species already dealt with in the preceding chapter. B. nigricans, the American 

 representative of that species, and previously alluded to (Conf. p. 331). 



Habits It is not known that the habits of the White-bellied Brent Goose 

 differ in any important respect from those of the typical form. It is just as 

 northerly in its distribution during summer, and comes south in winter to the 

 coasts of temperate America. It is equally gregarious, and often mingles in 

 small numbers with flocks of the preceding race. 



Nidification. The breeding habits, the nest, and the eggs of the White- 

 bellied Brent Goose have been already described in the previous chapter. 



Diagnostic characters Branta, with the underparts below the breast 

 nearly white, and with the head and neck black, with a small white patch on the 

 sides of the latter. Length, 22 to 24 inches. Intermediate forms between the 

 two extreme races are frequently met with in the British Islands. 



