166 ANATID^. 



together, and present a mark like a barn door. The Brent 

 Geese, when fat, are excellent eating birds." 



The London markets are abundantly supplied with these 

 Geese, and a few may be seen in almost every poulterer's 

 shop in the winter. The authors of the Catalogue of Nor- 

 folk and Suffolk Birds also mention, that the cry of a flock 

 of these birds much resembles the noise of a pack of 

 hounds, and they had twice been deceived by it. 



Upon the Northumbrian coast, Mr. Selby observes, " a 

 very large body of these birds annually resorts to the 

 extensive muddy and sandy flats that lie between the 

 mainland and Holy Island, and which are covered by every 

 flow of the tide. This part of the coast appears to have 

 been a favourite resort of these birds from time imme- 

 morial, where they have always received the name of 

 Ware Geese., given to them, without doubt, in consequence 

 of their food consisting entirely of marine vegetables. This 

 I have frequently verified by dissection ; finding the giz- 

 zard filled with the leaves and stems of a species of grass 

 that grows abundantly in the shallow pools left by the 

 tide, and with the remains of the fronds of different algse, 

 particularly of one, which seems to be the Lawer (Ulva 

 latissima). In this haunt they remain till the end of 

 February, when they migrate in successive flocks, as the 

 individuals happen to be influenced by the season, and be- 

 fore April the whole have disappeared. When they de- 

 part, the same procedure as that mentioned by Wilson, in 

 his American Ornithology, takes place ; the flock about to 

 migrate rises high into the air by an extensive spiral 

 course, and then moves off seaward in a northerly direc- 

 tion." 



This species is included by Mr. Macgillivray among the 

 Birds of the Hebrides, and in Shetland it is called Horra 



