BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 193 



BARNACLE GOOSE {Branta leucopsis). 



Length. — About 28 inches. 



Adult Female. — Front and sides of head, chin and throat white; dark 

 line from base of bill running back to eye; rest of head and neck black, 

 the black extending on upper back and fore breast; shoulders and 

 wing coverts gray, feathers tipped with black and white; rump and 

 tail black; upper and under tail coverts, sides of rump, belly and lower 

 breast white or whitish, the flanks shaded with gray; quills dusky. 



Adult Male. — Duller than female; iris hazel brown; bill, feet and claws 

 black. 



Young. — White face, speckled with black; general plumage suffused with 

 rufous brown, more or less marked, according to age. 



Range. — Northern part of Old World. Breeds in northern part of eastern 

 hemisphere as far north as Spitzbergen; winters in Great Britain and 

 western Europe, occurring south to Spain; occurs in Iceland, and in 

 migration on both coasts of Greenland; recorded from Ungava, Onta- 

 rio, Quebec, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and North Caro- 

 lina. 



History. 



The Barnacle Goose is a wanderer from the Old World. 

 One is recorded as having been killed at North Chatham, 

 November 1, 1885, and mounted by N. Vickary.i Mr. J. A. 

 Farley informs me that this specimen was shot at North 

 Eastham, out of a "bunch of three or four presumably of the 

 same species," by Joseph Dill. It is now in the Brewster 

 collection. 



Mr. Warren E. Freeman, who secured this specimen for the 

 collection, made a painting of the bird, from which the plate 

 facing this page is taken. 



Swans. 



The Swans comprise the subfamily Cygninae. They are 

 among the largest of all water-fowl. They are distinguished 

 by the long neck, the bare space from bill to eye and the 

 exact similarity in color of the two sexes. They are less at 

 home on land than the Geese, but are very graceful and 

 elegant upon the water. Some Swans have resonant voices, 

 while others are mute. In New England we have now but 

 one species, which has nearly disappeared. 



1 Ornitliologist and Oologist, January, 1886, Vol. 11, p. 16. 



