fiSO NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description Fabulous assertion. 



from whence they migrate in May to the wild 

 parts of Europe. While in this country they 

 feed much on green wheat. 



THE BERN4CLE GOOSE. 



THIS bird has a very short and black bill, 

 crossed with a flesh-coloured mark on each side. 

 Part of the head, the chin, throat, under parts,, 

 and upper tail-coverts, are white; and the rest 

 of the head and neck, and the beginning of the 

 back, are black ; the thighs are mottled. Round 

 the knee, th<3 feathers are black ; and the lower 

 feathers of the back are the same, edged with 

 white. The wing-coverts and scapulars are blue- 

 grey; the ends black, fringed with white at the 

 tip. The vent, tail, and legs, are black. 



Bernacle geese are not uncommon on many of 

 the northern and western coasts of this kingdom, 

 in winter; but they are scarce in the south, and 

 only seen in inclement seasons. They leave our 

 island in February, and retire northward to 

 breed. 



Of all the marvellous productions which igno- 

 rance, ever credulous, has so long substituted 

 for the simple and truly wonderful operations of 

 nature, the most absurd, and yet not the least ce- 

 lebrated, is the assertion of the growth of these 

 birds, in a kind of shell, called- lepas anatifera 



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