39;) 



am therefore unable to speak positively from personal observation respecting the validity of the 

 species ; but it is very generally recognized by American authors. 



I am indebted to Captain H. W. Feilden for the following notes respecting the range, habits, 

 and nidification of the Brent Goose in the Arctic regions, as observed by him on the recent Arctic 

 expedition : — " This species of Goose extends its range further north than any other in the Ame- 

 rican Arctic circle as well as in the Old World. Bemicla hutchinsi is recorded by James Eoss from 

 Melville Peninsula and Boothia ; but its range does not appear to extend northward beyond those 

 regions ; for Sabine only found Bemicla brenta on Melville Island, where it bred in great numbers, 

 and it seems to be the only species met with in the Parry Archipelago by any of the Franklin 

 Search Expeditions that proceeded through Lancaster Sound. The members of the United-States 

 ' Polaris ' Expedition found this species not uncommon during July, August, and the commencement 

 of September in the vicinity of Polaris Bay, lat. 81° 38' N. ; and the sledging-parties of H.M.S. 

 'Discovery,' whilst detained at the same place in July and August 1876, procured a considerable 

 number. The Brent Goose is, in fact, generally distributed on both sides of Robeson Channel, 

 as well as along the shores of the Polar Ocean, on both the Grinnell-Land and Greenland coasts. 

 This species was observed in the neighbourhood of Floeberg Beach, the winter-quarters of H.M.S. 

 'Alert,' lat. 82° 27' N., as early as the first week in June 1876; and four were shot on the 9th 

 June by Lieutenant Egerton, R.N., in lat. 82° 33' N. On the 12th June, 1876, my note-book 

 has the following entry : — ' Six Brent Geese in pairs passed the ship, flying south : all of this 

 species seen up to this date have been following the coast-line either up or down ; none have 

 been observed flying due north over the Frozen Ocean, as one would have expected were their 

 breeding-haunts still nearer the pole.' On the 21st June I was hunting with Lieutenant 

 Parr, R.N., in Hare Ravine, Grinnell Land, lat. 82° 32' N. By this time the Brent Geese had 

 settled down to breed. Some six pairs were noticed by us in this locality ; and the nests were 

 placed upon the slopes of the hills between the line of snow and the sea-ice. The nests were 

 made in slight depressions with a good foundation of grass, moss, and stems of saxifrages, on 

 which was placed a warm bed of goose-down, in which the eggs were deposited, the usual 

 number being four. The gander generally remained near his mate ; and in one instance, after 

 I had shot the female off her nest, the gander came hissing at me with neck bent down and head 

 close to the ground, in the same manner as our farm-yard Geese resent intrusion on their 

 premises. 



" The Brent Goose is quite capable of defending its eggs ; for in one instance I observed a 

 Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca), passing too near the nest of a Goose, hotly pursued and followed 

 by that bird, who thus disclosed the exact position of her nest to me. During the period of court- 

 ship the goose and gander rise to a great height in the air by spiral nights, and indulge in long 

 series of antics, very unlike their usually staid and methodical behaviour. 



" On the 25th June 1876, Lieutenant Parr and I decided to visit Simmonds Island on our 

 return to the ship from Hare Ravine, in hopes of finding some birds nesting on it. Leaving our 

 camp at 12 meridian, we dragged our sledge onto the shore-ice ; the smooth or one season's ice 

 extended for about a mile seaward ; and though it was covered at this time of the year with a 

 layer of icy-cold water, which reached to our knees, yet, beyond the discomfort of wading through 

 water at 32° Fahr., the travelling was tolerable and the sledge pulled easy ; but when we reached 



