esi 
if 
2 BOLAM : THE SNOW GOOSE IN NORTHUMBERLAND. 
outer half of their wings, which appeared to be black, and which, by 
contrast with the white feathers, showed up very dark and distinct. 
The birds rose at first rather heavily from the ground, their flight 
_ afterwards closely resembling that of Bean Geese; in size they 
appeared to be rather larger than that species, and the neck, carried, 
of course, straight out in front, seemed to be somewhat longer. 
My brother was at this time ignorant of the existence of the 
Snow Goose, or of its being an occasional visitor to this country ; 
and when he told me next morning of what he had seen, was still 
rather under the impression that the birds might have been some 
kind of swans with which he was not acquainted. From his clear 
description, however, I had little doubt that they could have been 
anything else than Snow Geese, and a glance at the plates and the 
letterpress of Yarrell and Bree quickly convinced him that the birds 
he had seen were really of this species. 
Being myself unable to leave home at the time, it was arranged 
that my brother should revisit Holy Island, and endeavour, if 
possible, to put the matter beyond dispute by shooting one of the 
birds ; and accordingly, on the morning of the 6th January, he was 
again upon the sands. The greater part of the day was spent in 
keeping a sharp look-out, but though many flocks of ducks and grey 
geese were upon the move, it was not until rather late in the 
afternoon that a single suspiciously white-looking individual appeared, 
The weather had now, however, become rather dull, and as the bird 
merely flew past at a considerable distance out to sea, no very 
satisfactory view of it could be obtained, and except that the 
plumage showed distinctly white, nothing positive could be noted. 
On the 9th January he was again down upon the sand ridges, 
when although nothing more was seen of the flock, another single 
bird appeared, and this time fortunately passed so close to where he 
lay concealed that both with the naked eye and by the help of his 
glass my brother had a most capital view of it, and was able to make 
himself quite certain that the bird was really a Snow Goose. The 
plumage, except the broad black tips to the wings, was again pure 
white, and the flight as before bore a strong resemblance to that of a 
n Goose, 
Though at intervals of a few days several other visits were paid 
to Holy Island, nothing further was seen of the birds, nor were we 
able to hear that they had been met with by any of the local shooters, 
Actual proof of the visit of the Snow Goose to Northumberland by 
the production of a specimen is therefore wanting, but my brother is 
so well acquainted with the birds usually met with upon our shores, 
and his description of the goose seen was so clear, that I should have 
aturalist, 
