332 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS. 



remainder greyish brown, lighter below than above, with the tips of the feathers 

 paler. This goose, which is very variable in size and coloration, inhabits the 

 whole of North America, as far south as Mexico. Very different from all the 

 above is the handsome bird known as the red-breasted goose {B. ruficollis), which 

 may be recognised by the black forehead, white lores, and the rich chestnut of the 

 neck and upper breast bordered above with white. The ear-coverts have also an 

 angular patch of chestnut bordered with white; the upper-parts are blackish 

 brown ; the top of the head, part of the sides of the face, the back of the neck, the 

 throat, the primaries, tail-feathers, and lower breast are black ; and the upper and 

 lower tail-coverts and the abdomen white. In length this bird measures from 

 21 to 22 inches. Its native home is the tundras of Siberia, whence it wanders 

 occasionally during the winter to Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Holland, the 

 British Islands, and other parts of Europe. 



From being siich exclusively Arctic birds, our acquaintance with 

 the habits of the more typical brent geese is not so intimate as would 

 be desirable. In Europe during the winter they generally frequent the neighbour- 

 hood of the coasts, although at times penetrating some distance inland. Usually 

 collecting at this season in considerable flocks, these birds always indicate their near 

 presence by the constant gaggling kept up as they feed, or by the hoarse cronk of 

 their call-note. The food of the bemicle goose consists chiefly of grasses and 

 bents growing on the sandhills ; while the brent goose eats seaweeds and other 

 water-plants, as well as crustaceans and other small aquatic creatures. On the 

 other hand, the Canada goose subsists largely on berries and com. During its 

 migrations the latter species assembles in flocks, which unite together to form a 

 vast column, with each section under an appointed leader. At such times they 

 generally fly throughout the night, although occasionally resting in the daytime. 

 When about to alight, pioneers descend from the flock to select a favourable and 

 safe feeding-ground ; and during the whole time that it is on the ground, the flock 

 is guarded by sentinels. The watchfulness of these guardians renders a flock 

 of Canada geese almost impossible to approach by stalking ; and the plan adopted 

 in many parts of the States is to dig pits in a stubble-field, in which the sportsmen 

 take up their position surrounded by a number of decoys. The geese are then 

 shot during their morning and evening flights from lake to lake, when they are 

 attracted within easy range by the decoys. In the Magdalen Islands this species 

 makes its nest in marshy plains, occasionally laying as many as nine eggs in a 

 clutch. The brent goose, on the other hand, breeds on the sides of slopes on 

 the bare space left between the line of snow and the sea-ice ; the four eggs being 

 deposited on a bed of grass, moss, and saxifrage, overlain with down. Occasionally 

 the nest of another bird is adopted by some of the members of this genus. All the 

 brent geese are readily tamed, and breed in confinement, several of the species 

 crossing with one another. 



The brent geese of the Southern Hemisphere difler more or less 

 Southern Species. . . 



markedly from their northern cousins, and some or all of them have 



accordingly been separated (as Cloephaga) from the genus Bernicla, although we 



follow Mr. Sclater in including the whole of them under that name. Several of 



these lack the black heads and necks of the northern species ; and in some, such as 



