GEESE AND GOOSE-LIKTE BIRDS. 203 



the breast, the orange bill with white nail, and orange 

 legs and feet. 



GRAY LAG- GOOSE— 35 inches; lighter gray generally, 

 particularly on the shoulder and rump ; blaok markings 

 on breast slight ; bill, legs, and feet flesh-colour. 



BEAN GOOSE— 34 inches; bill black, with orange cross- 

 band and black nail ; no black marks on breast ; legs 

 and feet orange. 



PINK-FOOTED GOOSE— 28 inches ; bill blaok, with pink 

 centre ; legs and feet pink ; no black marks on breast ; 

 no white tract at base of bill. 



BRENT GOOSE— Plate 89. 23 inches. Head, 

 neck, and the parts within a line passing the bend of 

 the wings and below the upper breast black, a small 

 white patch on each side of the neck excepted ; general 

 colouring above slaty-brown ; lower back and wing- 

 feathers black ; under parts grayish-brown, mottled 

 with white on the sides of the body ; parts about tail 

 white all round, hiding black tail ; bill, legs, and feet 

 black. Winter migrant. 



Distribution. — An autumn migrant to our coasts 

 generally, largely on the east side and south, less 

 commonly on the west ; very common on Irish coasts 

 and estuaries. 



The Brent Goose is purely a maritime species, 

 feeding by day in flocks on the shore-flats and in the 

 shallows, and resting out at sea when not so occupied. 

 These birds have the usual habit of Geese of flying 

 in linear formations, often in one resembling a V 

 moving point forwards, and use a clanging ' Honk ! ' 

 as they go. The distinctive marks of the Brent 



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