30 WILD GEESE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING 



which regularly visit Great Britain, five have pink legs 

 and feet. The scientific name brachyrynchus short 

 billed is a far better definition, because it is only by 

 the shortness of its bill and its slightly smaller stature 

 that this bird can be distinguished from the bean goose 

 (A. segetum). 



It is a curious fact that of all the six species of geese 

 that are to be found every winter in the United King- 

 dom, only the gray-lag (A cinereus), which is far less 

 numerous than any of the others, remains to breed in any 

 part of these islands. This a few pairs do each spring in 

 solitary parts of Sutherland and the Western Islands. 

 The gray-lag is the reputed progenitor of our farmyard 

 geese, and bears witness to the relationship by its call 

 note, which, exactly resembling that of the domestic 

 species, differs entirely from that of all other wild geese. 

 The barnacle goose (Bernicla leucopsis) is easily dis- 

 tinguished from other British geese by its black neck, 

 dark gray back and lighter gray sides, and from the brent 

 goose (Bernicla brenta) by its white face. Seen from 

 afar, both these species give the impression of birds with 

 black plumage flecked with white; but closer inspec- 

 tion reveals beautiful modulations of tone, the scapular 

 feathers and wing coverts being delicately fringed with 

 silvery gray. 



One more point about these two closely-related species 

 deserves notice. Nothing is known certainly about the 

 natural breeding habits of the barnacle goose, though it 

 is surmised that it nests in Iceland and the extreme 

 north of Norway ; but it freely lays eggs and rears young 

 in captivity. On the other hand, the brent goose, 

 although known to breed in great numbers in Spitz- 



