Brent Goose 153 



breeds in Franz-Josef Land and in Spitzbergen. It is quite possible that it may also prove 

 to be a nesting-bird in Iceland, although it has not yet been recorded as such. 



The breeding-places of this goose authentically recorded are thus very few in 

 comparison with the incredible number of individuals met with in its winter haunts, and 

 this confirms my idea that other vast nesting-grounds must lie between the Yenisei on the 

 west, the Yalmal, and the Kaninsk peninsula — along the shore of the Arctic Ocean. 



This species winters mainly on the shores of North Germany, Denmark, Holland, 

 Belgium, Northern France, Great Britain, and even Portugal. At times it descends south 

 to the Atlantic coast of Morocco, where it is perhaps even a regular winter visitor. It is 

 also very probable that it winters in small numbers on the Faroes, where it is a common 

 bird of passage. In winter it is met with at various points in the Mediterranean basin and 

 in Lower Egypt. 



The migratory routes of this species are described by Professor Menzbier as follows : 

 "The brent undoubtedly breeds on Kolguev and Novaia Zemlia, and perhaps on Vaigach. 

 It arrives there by two routes — namely, the Norwegian, from the side of the Varanger-fjord, 

 following the coast of the Kola peninsula to Kaninsk and thence to Vaigach and Novaia 

 Zemlia, and also from the side of the Baltic. The latter line begins at the southern end of 

 the Baltic with two branches, one going over Lifland and the Peipus to the Gulf of 

 Finland, the other leading to the same point by the Estland coast. After crossing the 

 Gulf of Finland, the brents collect on the Aland Islands and Nyland coast, and thence strike 

 across the lake region for the White Sea, avoiding Archangel, where a stray specimen of this 

 bird is only rarely met with. Having reached the throat of the White Sea, the flocks 

 proceed along the eastern coast of the Kola peninsula, through Ponsi, Tri Ostrova, Sosnovets, 

 Morzhovets, and then make for Novaia Zemlia." 



This sketch of the migration is perhaps quite true, but it seems certain that not all 

 the brents travelling by the Baltic shore turn off to Vaigach and Novaia Zemlia, a large 

 number of them passing straight over Finland and Lake Ladoga eastwards, while others 

 probably go direct by the mainland to the Taimyr peninsula. At any rate I have 

 myself (during the autumn passage) observed for several years running, and have even 

 shot, brent flying straight from east to west from Lake Ladoga across the lakes of the 

 Vyborg Government in a vast number of large flocks. It is true I have not seen their 

 return passage by the same route in spring, but, according to the statements of the natives, 

 a migration occurs every year from west to east in the month of May. It is undoubtedly 

 owing to this line of migration that the bird is met with on passage about Turukhansk г and 

 in the Governments of Perm and Ufa. In September the " sea kazarkas," as they are called 

 on the coast, appear near St. Petersburg, 2 and somewhat later cross Scandinavia in a south- 

 westerly direction. By this route from the Taimyr peninsula, I assume, they stray into 

 the interior of European Russia, as in the Moscow Government (Lorenz) and Poland 

 (Taczanowski). Such visitations (or more properly migrations) almost substantiate, I think, 

 Professor Menzbier's hypothesis that this goose " perhaps gets to the Black Sea in winter." 

 As regards the Caspian, I have been unable to find any indications of its appearance, even as 

 a straggler, at that season. 



In September or the beginning of October, the geese flying over the Baltic and 

 through Scandinavia begin to occur in ever-increasing numbers off the coasts of Jutland, in 



1 Called in Pallas's times Mangazeya, a name often mentioned in his works. 



2 The passage occurs also in October ; the spring return passage is in April and May. 



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