BERNICLE GOOSE. 
77 
gradually shades into it. Plumage above, dark grey- 
ish brown, feathers tipped with pale wood-brown ; 
on the wings the ground colour assumes a grey- 
ish tinge, except on the quills, which are nearly 
black ; upper tail-covers white, forming a crescent 
of that colour at the base of the tail, as in the three 
previously described species ; tail tipped with white. 
Beneath, the colour of the neck shades into pale 
wood-brown on the breast and belly, gradually gain- 
ing pure white on the vent and under tail-covers ; 
but the lower parts of the breast, belly, and sides, 
are irregularly marked or barred with black, in 
greater or less proportion. Audubon considers this 
as the mark of breeding plumage, and that it is 
most diffused during the period of incubation, in 
fact, that it forms a marking somewhat like that on 
the plovers. All the specimens we have seen have 
been killed in winter, and had these dark lines in 
various proportions. Feathers covering the flanks 
are dark, tipped with pale wood-brown, and the 
thighs are yellowish-brown. The bill of this spe- 
cies is pale, the nail is white. 
Tiie Bernicle Goose, Anser leccopsis, Bech- 
et ein. — Ole barnacle, Tetnm. — The Bernicle or Bar- 
nicle Goose of British authors . — This beautiful goose 
is also a winter visitant along the shores of our 
islands, in some parts appearing in large flocks, and 
on the western coasts apparently taking the place 
of the next, which is equally, or even more abun- 
