124 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Brent—or Black Brent, as it is termed in American works 
(Bernicla nigricans)—-was shot by a wildfowler named Richard- 
son, who devotes his attentions especially to these fowl. Mr. 
Coburn, who has paid particular attention to Geese, after ob- 
serving that the present example is an adult female, and that an 
adult male of the same species (B. nigricans) had also been shot 
by the same wildfowler on Feb. 14th, 1902, near Lynn, con- 
tinues :—‘‘ On the Pacific side of America they never see any- 
thing but the black race of the Brent Goose, and its plumage is 
always of the same brownish black colour on the under parts 
both summer and winter. . . . In addition to the larger amount 
and different distribution of white on the neck, I have found 
another character which is constant; this is that the central 
under tail-coverts project considerably over the end of the tail— 
in some cases nearly one inch—so that when the tail is closed 
the end appears to be white instead of black.’’ This feature of 
the tail-coverts is well shown in the photograph which Mr. 
Coburn has obliged me with, taken from the Lynn bird of 
1902, which is rather a better example than the one sent him 
in 1907, and it also shows the white neck marks almost meeting 
in front—a very important character. The validity of Bernicla 
nigricans, which has also been recently admitted into the Italian 
avifauna (Atti Soc. It. Sc. Nat. xlvi.), is now fully recognized. 
Mr. Coburn observes that it must not be confused with the dark- 
bellied examples of B. brenta which have been obtained in Norfolk 
on different occasions, and which are considered by Mr. Coburn 
to be all males, a sexual difference which my limited observations 
confirm. Dresser, who gives specific rank to B. nigricans in his 
‘Manual of Palearctic Birds,’ defines its habitat as Western 
North America, from the high north in summer to Lower Cali- 
fornia in winter, and east coasts of Asia from Kamchatka to 
Japan. 
21st.—Sheld-Duck seen at Fritton by Mr. Buxton; very un- 
usual on that lake. 
27th.—More snow and hard frost ; thermometer down to ten 
degrees. Two Smews on Breydon yesterday (B. Dye). 
29th.—A drake Shoveler seen on the river at Eaton by Mr. 
Knight, its presence no doubt due to the return of the frost. A 
number of Tufted Ducks on the river and meadows at Postwick; 
