ANATID/E. 



five at a shot by stalking them under cover of the darkness ; and a more 

 deliciously flavoured game-bird than this Goose I have never tasted. 



They are social birds, always going in large flocks, and are very 

 loquacious, the female having a deep honking note, while the male 

 responds with a clear whistling, like the Sanderling's note etherialized. 



337. BERNICLA POLIOCEPHALA, Gray. 

 (ASHY-HEADED GOOSE.) 



Bernicla poliocephala, Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S. 1876, p. 366 ; Burmeister, P. Z. S. 

 1872, p. 366 (Bahia Blanca) ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 549 (Rio Negro) ; 

 Durnford, Ibis, 1878, p. 400 (Centr. Patagonia) . Chloephaga poliocephala, 

 Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 128. 



Description. Head, neck, and scapulars greyish plumbeous ; breast and upper 

 back chestnut, banded across with black; abdomen, under wing-coverts, and 

 bend of the wing white ; primaries black ; secondaries white ; greater wing- 

 coverts black, edged with shining green and tipped with white ; lower back and 

 tail black ; flanks banded with white and black ; crissum chestnut ; bill black ; 

 feet on the outside yellow, on the inner side brownish black : whole length 24-0 

 inches, wing 13'5, tail 5'0. Female similar. 



Hab. Patagonia. Southern Chili, and Southern Argentina. 



This Patagonian Goose migrates northwards in winter, and appears 

 on the Rio Negro and in the Buenos-Ayrean pampas in May, usually in 

 small flocks, but sometimes as many as one or two hundred are seen 

 together. The extreme limit of their winter migration appears to be 

 about sixty miles south of Buenos Ayres city, on the plains near the 

 river Sanborombon; probably they have before now been driven 

 from this locality by the Duck-shooters, but it was formerly their 

 favourite rendezvous, where they collected in large numbers, though 

 further north scarcely one was ever seen. 



Durnford tells us that this Goose is resident on Lake Colguape in 

 the territory of Chupat, and breeds there abundantly. 



338. CYGNUS NIGEJCOLLIS, Gm. 



(BLACK-NECKED SWAN.) 

 [PLATE XVIII.] 



Cygnus nigricollis, Burin. La-Iluta Reise, ii. p. 512 (Parana) ; Scl. et Salv. 

 Nomencl. p. 129 ; iid. P. Z. S. 1876, p. 370 ; Durnford, Ibis, 1877, p. 191 

 (Buenos Ayres), et 1878, p. 400 (Centr. Paragonia) ; Gibson, Ibis, 1880, 

 p. 33 (Buenos Ayres) ; Barrows, Auk, 1884, p. 273 (Entrerios). 



Description. White ; head and neck black ; postocular streak and chin white ; 



