254 BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE BRENT GOOSE. 

 r Bernicla, Temm. Oic cravant, Temm.) 



THIS is of nearly the same shape and size as 

 the Bernacle, from which it differs in the colour of 

 its plumage, being mostly of an uniform brown, 

 the feathers edged with ash : the upper parts, 

 breast, and neck, are darker than the belly, which 

 is more mixed and dappled with paler cinereous 

 and grey: the head and upper half of the neck 

 are black, excepting a white patch on each side 

 of the latter, near the throat : the lower part of 

 the back and rump are also black : the tail 

 coverts above and below, and the vent, white : 

 tail, quills, and legs dusky : the bill is dark, 

 rather of a narrow shape, and only about an inch 

 and a half long : the irides are light hazel. In 

 the females and the younger birds, the plumage 

 is not so distinctly marked, and the white spots 

 on the sides of the neck are often mixed with 



