GEESE. 
33 1 
crescent edged with white at the end, while the primaries and tail-feathers are 
almost black; the breast and abdomen being greyish white, and the under tail- 
coverts pure white. This species is an inhabitant of the coasts of Northern 
Europe, ranging in winter to the British Islands, and occasionally found as far 
south as Spain and Italy. How far eastwards it extends in Northern Asia is at 
present unknown; while there is no definite information as to its breeding, 
although it probably nests in Novaia Zemlia, Spitzbergen, and the regions still 
male and female half-bred upland geese. (From Sclater, Proc Zool. Soc., 1876.) 
further north. It probably also breeds in Greenland, being occasionally found on 
the Atlantic coasts of North America. A fourth very distinct representative of the 
genus is the Canada brent goose (B. canadensis), easily recognised by its black 
head and neck, with a large triangular patch of white on each cheek, usually 
joined by a band beneath the throat, but sometimes separated by a narrow black 
line. Occasionally there is also a white collar encircling the lower part of the 
neck. As regards the rest of the plumage, the tail, rump, and primaries are 
brownish black, the upper tail-coverts and region of the vent white, and the 
