e 
The Geese. 
i35 
THE 
BRENT GOOSE. 
(Branta bevnicla.) 
the Mediterranean. The species feeds on grass like other Geese, and betakes itself 
to the sand-banks when the latter are left uncovered by the tide. The nest is 
unknown, but the eggs, laid in confinement, are white, and measure about two-and- 
three-quarters to three inches in length. 
In the true Brent Geese the head and neck are entirely 
black, and the Common Brent is recognised by the length of the 
upper and under tail-coverts, which generally completely hide 
the tail. Considerable variation takes place in the colour of 
the breast, which is sometimes white and sometimes blackish, but these two 
forms occur together in the north, and intermediate specimens are not rare, 
so that they cannot be considered to be different species. It is a winter visitor 
to Great Britain and is often seen in large flocks on the eastern coasts 
of England, Scotland and Ireland, being rarer on the western coasts. It nests 
throughout the Arctic regions from the Taimyr Peninsula to Spitsbergen 
and Greenland, the white-breasted form being more common in the western 
part of its range. It visits the coasts of Northern and Western Europe in 
winter, and even occurs in the Mediterranean. The Brent Goose frequents the sea- 
coasts, where it feeds on aquatic plants and small crustaceans and marine insects. 
After the nesting-season the quills are moulted and large numbers are caught in 
their helpless condition by the Samoyedes and stored for winter food. The nest is 
placed on the sloping sides of a hill and is merely a depression in the ground, 
covered with moss and lined with a warm bed of down. The eggs are four or five 
in number, creamy white in colour and measuring from two-and -three-quarters to 
nearly three inches in length. 
THE 
RED-BREASTED 
GOOSE. 
( Bernicla ruficollis.) 
This is a very 
beautiful Goose 
and is of rare 
occurrence in 
Western Europe. 
Its red breast renders it easily recog- 
nisable. The breeding home of the 
species is in Siberia, in the valleys of 
the Ob and the Yenesei, and in winter 
it visits the Caspian Sea in great num- 
bers and is found in the Mediterranean 
at the same season. It has occurred 
in many countries of Europe, and at 
least on eight occasions in England 
and Scotland. In habits it appears to 
resemble other Brent Geese, but is not 
so maritime a species as the Common 
The Red-breasted Goose. 
