BRIiXT BERNICLE. 



Two feet in length : the beak black : the iride;s 

 dusky brown : the head, neck, and top of the breast 

 are dull black : on the sides of the neck is a space 

 clothed with dusky feathers, which are tipped with 

 white : the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts are very 

 deep grey, tipped by an indistinct band of clear 

 brown : the middle of the belly is ashy-brown : the 

 feathers on the sides of the body are deep ash-colour, 

 tipped by a broad whitish band : the vent and tail- 

 coverts are pure white : the quills, secondary and tail- 

 feathers are deep black : the legs are black, slightly 

 tinged with brown. The female differs in being 

 rather less. The young of the year have not the 

 white space on the sides of the neck ; this part, as 

 well as the head and the top of the breast, are ashy- 

 black, which colour, of a paler tinge, predominates 

 over the back ; the whole of the feathers of which 

 part, as well as those of the breast, being tipped with 

 a reddish-brown band, as are also those of the sides 

 of the body : the legs are reddish-black. 



According to Temminck, the rings of which the 

 tracheal tube of the male is composed become sud- 

 denly enlarged at some distance from the glottis, 

 then resume their original diameter, and become 

 again dilated near the branching off; at this place 

 they become suddenly very straight, and give rise to 

 a straight cartilaginous tube, communicating with the 

 bronchiae, which are funnel-shaped, and composed of 

 entire and very solid rings. 



Brents inhabit the marshes and heaths of the Arctic 

 regions, and are very abundant in the winter and 



