Clafs II. ] 
bird s. 
151 
whole under fide of the body, and coverts of the 
tail are white 3 the back, fcapulars and coverts of 
the wings, are beautifully barred with grey, black, 
and white 5 the tail is black 3 the legs of the 
fame color, and fmall. 
Thefe birds appear in vaft flocks during winter, 
on the north weft coafts of this kingdom : are 
very fhy and wild 3 but on being taken, grow 
as familiar as our tame geefe in a few days. 
Thefe are the birds that about two hundred years 
ago were believed to be generated out of wood, 
or rather a fpecies of fhell that is often found 
flicking to the bottoms of fhips, or fragments of 
them3 and were called Tree-geefe Thefe 
were alfo thought by fbme writers to have been 
the Chenalopeces of Pliny: they fhould have faid 
Chenerotes 3 for thole were the birds that naturalift 
faid were found in Britain 5 but as he has fcarce 
lert us any defcnption of them, it is impoffible to 
determine what fpecies he intended ** 
* The fhell here meant is the lepas anatifera. Lin.fyjl. 668. Ar%m- 
vtl e Conch. Tab. 7. the animal that inhabites it is furnifhed with a fea¬ 
thered beard 3 which, in a credulous age, was believed to be part of the 
young bird. 
** Anferini generis funt Chenalopeces: et quibus lantiores er 
non novit Britannia Chenerotes , fereanfere minores. Lib . 10, c 
SPECIES V. The Brent Goofe. 
IV)l. orn. 360. 
Rail fyn. av. i 37. 
Bernacle. Nat. hift. Ireland 192 . 
1 s is inferior in fize to the former : 
the bill is one inch and an half lone ; 
the color of that, the head, neck, and 
upper part of the breaft is black 3 on each fide 
the flendereft part of the neck is a white fpot 3 
the lower part of the breaft, the fcapulars, and 
coverts of the wines are afn-colored, clouded 
with a deeper fhade 3 the feathers above and be¬ 
low the tail are white 5 the tail and quil feathers 
black 3 the legs black. 
Thefe birds frequent our coafts in the winter : 
in Ireland they are called Bernacles , and appear 
in great quantities in Auguft , and leave it in 
Brenta. Brijfon av. VI. 304. Tab. 31. 
Anas Bernicla. Lin. fyft. 1 24. 
March. They feed on a fort of long graft 
growing in the water 3 preferring the root and 
fbme part above it, which they dive for, bite off 
and leave the upper part to drive on fhore. They 
abound near Londonderry, B elf aft > and Wexford 5 
and are taken in flight time in nets placed a-croft 
the rivers 3 and are much efteemed for their de¬ 
licacy. The Rat or Road-goofe , of Mr. Wil¬ 
loughby, agrees in fo many refpedls with this 
kind, that we fufpedf it to be only a young bird 
not come to full feathers : the only difference 
confifting in the feathers next the bill, and on the 
throat and breaft being brown. 
t P 3 61 - 
SPECIES 
