174 Geese of Europe and Asia 



obtained. Its label bears on one side " Filoppov," and on the other "von Baer." It 

 is indeed probable that, apart from Poland and the Pskov Government, this goose has 

 visited, and still visits (? on migration) many parts of European Russia, but that these 

 visits have been and still remain unnoticed. 



Although we have no other information with regard to the range of this goose in 

 Russia, reference may be made to a somewhat strange statement by Lepekhin as to its 

 occurrence in Archangel. Describing it as " srednyaya kazarka," 1 or Anser canadensis, 

 this writer proceeds to observe that "this goose, according to the statement of the famous 

 Linne, breeds in Canada, whence it was given the name of the Canadian goose; but 

 it is yearly to be seen in Archangel, and, in particular, on the lakes of Lapland, and on 

 the tundras in Samoyediya, where it rears its young and affords no small part of the 

 subsistence of the Samoyeds, who slaughter a great many of these birds with sticks on the 

 shallow lakes in the moulting season, and after drying them in the sun, store them for 

 future use." 



Notwithstanding that Lepekhin confounded it with the Canadian goose, and perhaps 

 partly also with the brent (Branta bemicld), he evidently knew the present species, since 

 the figure he gives {I.e. PI. 10) leaves no doubt on the subject. His statements are, in 

 any case, worthy of attention, and the assertion as to its breeding on the tundras of 

 " Samoyediya " should not be too hastily contradicted. Who, indeed, can affirm that 

 Lepekhin was mistaken, and that we are really much better acquainted with the fauna of 

 Lapland than was generally the case in his time ? 



But few authenticated breeding-grounds of this species are known outside Russia. 

 It has, however, been found nesting in limited numbers in the Lofoden Islands (Professor 

 Collett) ; and it also breeds in the southern part of Greenland, where it is a regular bird of 

 passage, as a specimen of the young in down was brought thence to the Copenhagen 

 Museum. In Iceland and Spitzbergen it undoubtedly nests, as it probably also does in 

 Franz-Josef Land ; but, after passing through the southern part of Greenland, it is at 

 present entirely unknown to what part of the north it goes to breed. 



The barnacle goose winters in some parts of the Baltic, on the coasts of Denmark, 

 Holland, Northern France, and Great Britain ; but it seldom visits the interior of the West 

 of Europe, or even Southern Europe, although instances are known of its straying into 

 Spain. On the Atlantic coast of North America this goose only occasionally occurs. 



If our information with regard to the geographical distribution of this species be 

 fragmentary and incomplete, we are still less acquainted with its life-history. Professor 

 Menzbier, for instance, writes that, "We know hardly anything of the manner of life of the 

 barnacle goose. Like many other geese it is a sociable bird, and an excellent flyer and 

 runner ; its food, which, like that of the brent, consists of water-weeds, crustaceans, and 

 aquatic insects, is obtained either on the sea- shores or the margins of lakes. About 

 July 1 6 on Spitzbergen these birds are in full moult, when, like the brent, they are quite 

 incapable of flight and seek refuge by running." Professor Collett, who has done so much 

 for the zoology of Norway, states that "a pair of barnacle geese bred for several years in 

 the Lofoden Islands, where they constructed a nest of waterweeds and moss, which was 

 placed either on a narrow shelf of cliff or under the shelter of a rocky projection. The eggs 

 in a clutch are five ; in external appearance they are indistinguishable from those of the 

 brent." 



1 Puteshestvie, Hi, Append, p. 5, pi. 10. 



