BIRDS 



157' Red-breasted Goose. Bernida ruficoUis 

 (Pallas) 

 Only two examples of this handsome 

 species are recorded as having been obtained 

 in Devonshire. One w^as killed on Dawlish 

 (or Kenton) Warren at the mouth of the Exe 

 in 1828 ; another was shot on the Teign 

 marshes 21 February 1837. I* '^ only an 

 accidental wanderer to the British Islands 

 from Siberia. 



158. Bernacle Goose. Bernida leucopsis 



(Bechstein) 

 This species is decidedly rare in Devon- 

 shire at the present day, though Montagu 

 says that a large flock was observed on Slap- 

 ton Ley in the winter of 1801. Two pairs 

 have been killed at that place, one before 

 1856, the other in i860. One was shot at 

 Thurlestone in the autumn of 1882, and Mr. 

 E. A. S. Elliot saw four there in January 

 1 891. An example is said to have been 

 shot near Axminster early in January 1892. 

 Bernacle geese have occurred occasionally on 

 Dawlish Warren, near Plymouth and in the 

 north of the county. 



159. Brent Goose. Bernida brenta (Pallas) 

 Locally, Brant (A.-S. 3n»»* = burnt, from its 



colour). 



A winter visitor, flocks, sometimes of con- 

 siderable size, being always seen on the estu- 

 aries during cold spells of weather. They 

 sometimes feed on the cockle-sands quite close 

 to the railway station at Exmouth. In some 

 years this goose appears as early as September 

 and October, remaining till the end of April 

 or even to May. There are two forms of 

 this species visiting the British Islands ; one 

 having a dark breast and abdomen, from 

 northern Europe and Asia, is most plentiful 

 on the east coast of England ; and the other, 

 with the under-parts white or light coloured, 

 comes from the Atlantic coast of America and 

 Greenland. The latter form has occurred 

 several times on the south coast of Devon, 

 and specimens obtained by Mr. E. A. S. 

 Elliot near Kingsbridge are, he considers, 

 intermediate between the two forms. He 

 records an immature female that was taken 

 alive on Borough Island in Bigbury Bay on 

 28 October 1900, which had sustained some 

 injury to its back. It belonged to the white- 

 breasted Arctic American and Greenland 

 form. 



[Two other species of geese, the Egyp- 

 tian goose {Chenalopex eegyptiacd) and the 

 Canada goose [Bernida canadensis), have not 

 unfrequently occurred in an apparently wild 

 state, but the examples observed were no 



doubt escapes from ornamental waters. Up 

 to the present no examples of the lesser white- 

 fronted goose {Anser erythropus) nor of the 

 American white-fronted goose [A. gambeli) 

 have been identified, though the latter is not 

 unlikely to be met with on our south-western 

 coast. All the bean geese that have been 

 obtained are believed to be true A. segetum and 

 not A, arvensisJ] 



160. Whooper Swan. Cygnus musicus, Bech- 



stein. 



A casual visitor now of very rare occur- 

 rence, though up to the year 1830 large 

 numbers used to visit the estuaries of the 

 county in severe winters. The last recorded 

 occurrences of this fine swan were in January 

 1 891, when seven were seen in Torbay, 

 one being killed about the same time at 

 Slapton Ley, and several on the Barnstaple 

 river ; and an immature female shot in the 

 bight off Exmouth on 23 January 1893, 

 and now in the possession of the writer. 



161. Bewick's Swan. Cygnus bewicii, Yarrell. 

 Like the last species this small swan is a 



casual visitor in severe winters, now of very 

 rare occurrence. In January 1838 a flock 

 of fifteen visited the Exe and Clyst, and were 

 nearly all killed. A pair was seen 14 Novem- 

 ber 1876 on the Kingsbridge estuary, and 

 the female was shot. Another was also shot 

 a few days afterwards. Only one or two 

 other occurrences are known. The last 

 occurrence was on the Kingsbridge estuary, 

 when one was shot out of a flock on 9 

 December 1902. There are no records of 

 any examples having been obtained in north 

 Devon. 



162. Mute Swan. Cy^w «/or (J. F. Gmelin) 

 Principally an introduced species in Devon- 

 shire, a few pairs being kept in a semi-domes- 

 ticated state between Exeter and Topsham, 

 and on many ponds and ornamental waters 

 throughout the county. Some swans are in 

 the habit of flying from the great swannery 

 at Abbotsbury in Dorsetshire to the mouth of 

 the Axe near Seaton, Devon. Some of the 

 wild swans which have been shot from time 

 to time in the county may have possibly been 

 feral examples of this species. 



163. Common Sheld-Duck. Tadorna cornuta 



(S. G. Gmelin) 



Locally, Bar-Duck, Burrow-Duck (N. Devon). 



This beautiful duck is now resident in 



limited numbers only at certain spots on both 



the north and south coasts, and is mainly a 



casual visitor in winter and early spring, 



317 



