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THE BARNACLE GOOSE. 



Anser leucopsis, Bechst. 



PLATE CCXCVI. Male and Female. 



Several old gunners on the coast of Massachusetts and Maine, who 

 were Englishmen by birth, assured me that they had killed Barnacles 

 there, and that these birds brought a higher price in the markets than the 

 Common Brent Geese. The Prince of Musignano states in his Synopsis 

 that they are very rare and accidental in the U nited States, and Mr Nut- 

 tall says that they are " mere stragglers" there. For my part, I ac- 

 knowledge that I never met with one of them, either along- the coast or 

 in the interior, although I have seen beautiful mounted specimens in va- 

 rious parts. Being neither anxious to add to our Fauna, nor willing un- 

 necessarily to detract from it, I have figured a pair of these birds, with 

 the hope that ere long, the assertions of the gunners, and those of the 

 authors above mentioned, may be abundantly verified by the slaughter of 

 many geese. In the mean time I must further confess my ignorance of 

 the habits of the Barnacle. 



Mr Selby thus speaks of it in the second volume of his Illustrations: — 

 " The Bernicle is amongst the number of our winter visitants, annually 

 resorting in vast numbers, upon the approach of autumn, to the western 

 shores of Britain, and to the north of Ireland. Upon the Lancashire 

 coast, the Solway Frith, Stc. it is very abundant ; frequenting the marshy 

 grounds that are occasionally covered by the spring-tides, and such sands 

 as produce the sea-grasses and plants upon which it feeds. Upon the 

 eastern and southern shores of Britain it is of rare occurrence, its place be- 

 ing supplied by its nearly allied congener, the Brent Goose {Anser Brenta) ; 

 which again is as rarely seen upon the opposite coast of the island. Like 

 the rest of the genus, the Bernicle is a very wary bird, and can only be 

 approached by the most cautious manoeuvres. It is sometimes shot by 

 moonlight, when it comes on the sands to feed, by persons couched on the 

 ground, or from behind any occasional shelter in such places as the flocks 

 are known to frequent. Its flesh is sweet and tender, and highly esteemed 

 for the table. Upon the approach of spring it leaves our shores for more 

 northern countries, and by the middle of March the whole have retired." 



VOL. III. G q 



