658 



GOOSE. 



In the middle latitudes, that is, about fifty degrees 

 north, those sections meet in the Siberian flats, and of 

 course often exchange even aquatic birds with each 

 other ; and when any of those birds which do not 

 breed in the north of Europe, or in the islands to the 

 westward, are driven to this country by stress of 

 weather, it is highly probable that, though we are 

 most familiar with them in America, as having pos- 

 session of the north part of it, they do not come to us 

 from America, but from Siberia. 



This division of the birds in longitude upon the 

 eastern continent is a point which deserves attention, 

 as tending to assist in settling the localities of birds 

 in two extensive districts, neither of which it is pos- 

 sible completely to explore. The reason why this is 

 a point of division evidently is, that the mountains of 

 Ural begin at the North Sea, and extend southward for 

 a distance of nearly twelve hundred miles. Those 

 mountains are lofty, their summits are rugged, their 

 sides, or at least their skirts, are covered with pine 

 forests ; and thus they form a sort of barrier which 

 no migrant bird, and more especially a goose, is likely 

 to pass. We have no space for entering upon the 

 investigation of this point in the geography of birds ; 

 but, as it has not been hitherto mentioned, we place 

 it before our readers, in order that those who are 

 fond of such subjects may turn their attention to it, 

 as being one which is of special importance in any 

 attempt to decide the locality of those rarer migrant 

 birds which severe storms occasionally bring to our 

 island. 



We believe that all the heavy birds of long flight, 

 which visit us in winter, and are not absolutely sea- 

 birds, at home and free denizens upon the broad 

 waters, come from Siberia ; and we do not think it 

 difficult to show that, without an extraordinary effort, 

 an effort, indeed, for which it is" not easy to imagine 

 an adequate physical cause, no such bird could, by 

 possibility, reach England from the extreme north of 

 America by coming south-eastward. 



The reason of this is not only worthy of being 

 stated, but it forms a very essential part of the history, 

 in their state of nature, of all the geese which visit 

 the British islands, and the species are not few, and 

 the birds themselves are all valuable. 



In the first place, and for a reason which will in 

 part explain why our winter-visiting birds come from 

 the north-east, and not the north-west, we get all our 

 more violent winter storms from the same quarter. 



The polar atmosphere, that is, about the latitude 

 of the average north of both continents, is carried 

 eastward by the earth at the rate of about three hun- 

 dred miles in the hour, while in the middle latitudes 

 of Europe it is carried about six hundred miles east- 

 ward at the same time. The consequence is, that, if 

 we suppose a bird to fly south, with the air, of course, 

 as the medium of its flight, it will always have less 

 eastward motion than the air into which it comes ; 

 and we need not add, that this deficiency of eastward 

 motion must tell as a westward motion upon the 

 bird. Thus, even granting that there were no storm 

 to drive it westward, a bird would move westward 

 even in attempting to fly southward through the still 

 air ; and, as the very same difference of motion in 

 the air is that which brings the storm from the north- 

 east, the storm and the bird very naturally' accompany 

 each other. If we suppose a migrant bird to come 

 from the north of America, we have.this cause against 

 the probability of its doing so, and to this we may 



add the interruption occasioned by the Atlantic. 

 We do not say positively that no birds (we are not 

 speaking of sea birds) come to Europe from America, 

 but the argument is against their doing so, and we 

 are not aware of any physical cause in favour of it. 

 But, to return to the bird under notice : 



The length of the snow goose is about two feet eight 

 inches, and the extent of the wings about five feet : the 

 bill is three inches in length, remarkably thick at the 

 base, and rising high in the forehead, but becomes 

 small and compressed at the extremity, where each 

 mandible is furnished with a whitish rounding nail ; 

 the colour of the bill is a purplish carmine ; the edges 

 of the two mandibles separate from each other in a 

 singular manner for their whole length, and this gib- 

 bosity is occupied by dentated rows resembling teeth, 

 these and the parts adjoining being of a blackish 

 colour ; the whole plumage is of a snowy whiteness, 

 with the exception, first, of the fore part of the head 

 all round as far as the eyes, which is of a yellowish 

 rust colour intermixed with white ; and, secondly, the 

 two exterior quill-feathers, which are black, shafted 

 with white, and white at the roots ; the coverts of 

 these last, and also the bastard wing, are sometimes 

 of a pale ash colour ; the legs and feet of the same 

 purplish carmine as the bill ; iris dark hazel ; the tail 

 is rounded, and consists of sixteen feathers ; that and 

 the wings when shut, are nearly of a length. The bill 

 is very singularly formed ; the edges of the upper and 

 lower gibbosities have each twenty indentations or 

 strong teeth, on each side, the inside or concavity of 

 the upper mandible has also seven lateral rows of 

 strong projecting teeth : and the tongue, which is 

 horny at the extremity, is armed on each side with 

 thirteen long and sharp bony teeth, placed like those 

 of a saw with their points directed backward : the 

 tongue, turned up and viewed on its lower side, looks 

 very much like a human finger with its nail. This 

 conformation of the mandibles, exposing two rows of 

 teeth, has probably given rise to the epithet laughing, 

 bestowed on one of the varieties. This peculiar 

 structure of the bill is attended with a peculiarity in 

 the feeding of the birds. Their chief food is the 

 roots of reeds and other strong aquatic plants ; and 

 they root these up in the marshes in the same way as 

 hogs root up the meadows. 



Brent Goose 



THE BUENT GOOSE (A. bernicld) is a much 

 smaller species than those hitherto described. It 

 measures very little more than two feet in length, and 

 about four and a half in the extent of the wings. Its 

 general colour is brownish, with ash-coloured margins 

 to the feathers. This extends over the upper part, 

 the lower part of the neck and the breast, while the 

 remainder of the under part is dappled with ash 



