332 
FLAMINGOES , DUCKS , AAA SCREAMERS. 
remainder greyish brown, lighter below than above, with the tips of the feathers 
paler. This goose, which is very variable in size and coloration, inhabits the 
whole of North America, as far south as Mexico. Very different from all the 
above is the handsome bird known as the red-breasted goose ( B . rujicollis), which 
may be recognised by the black forehead, white lores, and the rich chestnut of the 
neck and upper breast bordered above with white. The ear-coverts have also an 
angular patch of chestnut bordered with white; the upper-parts are blackish 
brown; the top of the head, part of the sides of the face, the back of the neck, the 
throat, the primaries, tail-feathers, and lower breast are black; and the upper and 
lower tail-coverts and the abdomen white. In length this bird measures from 
21 to 22 inches. Its native home is the tundras of Siberia, whence it wanders 
occasionally during the winter to Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Holland, the 
British Islands, and other parts of Europe. 
From being such exclusively Arctic birds, our acquaintance with 
the habits of the more typical brent geese is not so intimate as would 
be desirable. In Europe during the winter they generally frequent the neighbour¬ 
hood of the coasts, although at times penetrating some distance inland. Usually 
collecting at this season in considerable flocks, these birds always indicate their near 
presence by the constant gaggling kept up as they feed, or by the hoarse cronk of 
their call-note. The food of the bernicle goose consists chiefly of grasses and 
bents growing on the sandhills; while the brent goose eats seaweeds and other 
water-plants, as well as crustaceans and other small aquatic creatures. On the 
other hand, the Canada goose subsists largely on berries and corn. During its 
migrations the latter species assembles in flocks, which unite together to form a 
vast column, with each section under an appointed leader. At such times they 
generally fly throughout the night, although occasionally resting in the daytime. 
When about to alight, pioneers descend from the flock to select a favourable and 
safe feeding-ground; and during the whole time that it is on the ground, the flock 
is guarded by sentinels. The watchfulness of these guardians renders a flock 
of Canada geese almost impossible to approach by stalking; and the plan adopted 
in many parts of the States is to dig pits in a stubble-field, in which the sportsmen 
take up their position surrounded by a number of decoys. The geese are then 
shot during their morning and evening flights from lake to lake, when they are 
attracted within easy range by the decoys. In the Magdalen Islands this species 
makes its nest in marshy plains, occasionally laying as many as nine eggs in a 
clutch. The brent goose, on the other hand, breeds on the sides of slopes on 
the bare space left between the line of snow and the sea-ice; the four eggs being 
deposited on a bed of grass, moss, and saxifrage, overlain with down. Occasionally 
the nest of another bird is adopted by some of the members of this genus. All the 
brent geese are readily tamed, and breed in confinement, several of the species 
crossing with one another. 
The brent geese of the Southern Hemisphere differ more or less 
Southern. Species. „ . 1 
markedly from their northern cousins, and some or all of them have 
accordingly been separated (as Cloephaga) from the genus Bernicla, although we 
follow Mr. Sclater in including the whole of them under that name. Several of 
these lack the black heads and necks of the northern species; and in some, such as 
