510 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Thanks to the observations of Major Feilden, of the Nares Arctic Expe- 

 dition, much more is known of the breeding-habits of the Brent than of the 

 Bernacle. It arrived at its breeding-grounds in lat. 82^ on the 9th of June. 

 Half a dozen pairs M r ere breeding near Knot Harbour, and eggs were taken 

 in the third week of June. The nests were made on the sloping hill-sides 

 between the snow-line and the sea ; they were placed in slight depressions 

 on the ground with a good foundation of grass, moss, and the stems of 

 saxifrages, and plentifully lined with down. Three nests were afterwards 

 found on an island off the coast ; the water was only knee-deep, the 

 bottom being ice, as in the Siberian swamps, but the island was beyond 

 the line of open water, which only extended a mile from the shore, and it 

 was with the greatest difficulty that it was reached across the piles of ice- 

 blocks and snow. The nests were exactly like those on the mainland. 

 The gander was generally near the sitting goose, and attempted to de- 

 fend her from intrusion. During the pairing-season the goose and gander 

 were seen to rise in spiral flight to a great height, toying with each other. 

 The stomachs of those which were shot were found to contain buds of 

 Saxi/raga oppositifolia. The number of eggs in each nest was four or 

 five. They are creamy white in colour, finely granulated, and possess a 

 slight gloss. They vary in length from 2'87 to 2'65 inch, and in breadth 

 from 1'95 to 1'75 inch. They are indistinguishable from eggs of the 

 Bernacle Goose, but when compared with eggs of the White-fronted Goose 

 of the same dimensions may be distinguished by their lighter weight. 



Feilden found that by the end of July most of the birds were moulting 

 their quills and quite unable to fly ; but they were able to run fast enough, 

 and made for the nearest lake, where they attempted to find security 

 by remaining in the middle out of gunshot. 



The Brent Goose is intermediate in size between the Domestic Goose 

 and the Domestic Duck. There is no difference in the colour of the sexes, 

 and very little between that of summer and winter. In adult birds the 

 entire head, neck, upper mantle, and upper breast are black, but on each 

 side of the neck is a variegated black and white patch. The rest of the 

 upper parts are slate-grey, except the quills, innermost secondaries, and 

 tail-feathers, which are nearly black, and the sides of the rump and the 

 upper tail-coverts, which are white. The underparts from the centre of 

 the breast to the vent are quite different in the two forms : in the West- 

 Atlantic form they are pure white, suffused with pale brown on the breast, 

 and obscurely barred with brown on the flanks ; in the East-Atlantic 

 form they are a nearly uniform slaty brown, barred with white on the 

 flanks. In both forms the underparts below the vent are white; bill, 

 legs, feet, and claws black; irides hazel. In young in first plumage all 

 the parts which are black in the adult are dark brown, the white patches 

 on the neck are absent, the general colour of the back and wing-coverts 



