HUTCHINS GOOSE. 29 1 



On Captain Parry's second voyage several flocks of Geese 

 were seen on Melville Peninsula which were thought to be the 

 Barnacle, but which the Esquimaux said were the males of the 

 Brant that during the breeding-season separated themselves 

 from the females. A number of specimens were obtained, all 

 of which proved to be males, and Dr. Richardson described 

 the species as a variety of the Brant; but from information 

 afterwards obtained, he considered these specimens as belong • 

 ing to a different species, hitherto confounded with the .i. 

 canadensis. In Hudson Bay these birds are well known by 

 the Cree name of Apistiskeesh, and are generally thought by 

 the residents to be merely a small kind of the Canada Goose, 

 as they have the white, kidney-shaped patch on the throat, 

 which is deemed peculiar to that species. Their habits, how- 

 ever, are dissimilar, the Canada Geese frequenting the fresh- 

 water lakes and rivers of the interior, and feeding chiefly on 

 herbage ; while the present species are always found on the 

 sea-coast, feeding on marine plants, and the mollusca which 

 adhere to them, whence their flesh acquires a strong fishy 

 taste. 



In form, size, and general colors of the plumage, the new 

 species more nearly resembles the Brant than the Canada 

 Goose. It differs, however, from the former in having the white, 

 reniform patch on the throat and cheeks, in wanting the spotted 

 white mark on the side of the neck, in the black color termi- 

 nating four inches higher, instead of including the swell of the 

 upper parts of the back and breast, and in the white of the 

 vent being more extended. It is totally unUke A. kucopsis 

 in plumage, and has a larger bill. 



This species of Barnacle, named in honor of Mr. Hutchins, — 

 from whom Pennant and Latham derived most of their in- 

 formation respecting the birds of Hudson Bay, — breeds in 

 considerable numbers on the shores and islands of the Arctic 

 Sea, being seldom seen in the interior, and keep near the sea- 

 coast in their migrations. They feed on marine plants and 

 mollusca, as well as on grass and berries, in common with the 

 A. bernicla. 



