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tins goofe the female of the bernacle\ but Mr. Pennant 
thinks this opinion not well-founded. The bcmaclc is two 
feet one inch in length, the breadth four feet five inches; 
the bill is black; the forehead and cheeks are white ; 
from the bill to the eyes there is a black line ; the hind 
art of the head, the whole neck, and upper part of the 
read: and back, are of a deep black ; the tail is black, 
the legs-are of the fame colour, and fmall. Ti'.efe birds 
appear in vaft flocks during winter, on the north-vveftcoafts 
of this kingdom: they are very fhy and wild; but, on 
being taken, grow- in a few days as familiar as our tame 
geefe. In February‘they quit our Ihores, and retire as far 
as Lapland, Greenland, and even Spitzbergen, to breed. 
They live to a great age : the Rev. Dr. Buckworth, of 
Spalding, had one which was kept in the family above 
thirty-two years, but was blind during the two lafl; what 
its age was when firfl: taken, was unknown. Thefe are 
the birds that about 200 years ago were believed to be 
generated out of wood, or rather a fpecies of (hell that is 
often found flicking to the bottoms of flops, or fragments of 
them, and were called trcc-geefe. Thefe were alio thought 
by fome writers to have been the ckenalopeces of Pliny; 
they fhould have faid chmerotes, for thoTc were the birds 
which that naturalifl faid were found in Britain; but, as 
he has fcarcely left us any defeription of them, it is difficult 
to lay Which fpecies he intended. Mr. Pennant imagines 
it to be the following ; which is far inferior in fize to the 
wild-goofe, and very delicate food, in both refpeefs fuit- 
ing his defeription of the c/icneros. 
10. The race-horfe, or loggerhead goofe, is in length 
thirty-two inches, and weighs from twenty to thirty pounds. 
The bill is three inches long, and of ah orange colour; the 
Tides are orange, furrounded with black, and then with 
orange ; the head, neck, and upper parts of the body, are 
of a deep aflt-colour; the outer edge of the fecondaries. 
white, forming a band of the fame on the wing ; the un¬ 
der parts of the body dulky down the middle ; over the 
thighs, cinereous blue ; vent, white ; quills and tail, black; 
the wings are very fbort, not reaching to the rump; on 
the bend of the wing is a yellow knob, half an inch in 
length ; the legs are brownifh orange, the webs dulky, and 
the claws black. Thefe inhabit Falkland Wands, Staaten 
Land, &c. and were moftly feen in pairs,'though fome- 
times they were obferved in large flocks. From the lliort- 
nefs of the wings they were unable to fly ; but they made 
confiderabld ule of them when in the water, on which 
they feemed as it were to run, at leaft they fwam, with the 
a iTi fiance of the wings ufed as oars, at an incredible rate, 
‘ infomuch that it was a molt difficult thing to (hoot them 
while on that element: to catch them, the failors ufed to 
jurround a flock with boats, and drive them on (hore; 
v, here, unable to raife themfelves from the ground, they 
ran very fa ft; but loon growing tired, and fquatting down 
to reft, were eafily overtaken, and knocked on the head. 
Their flelh was fometimes eaten by the failors, in defeat of 
that of the buftard goofe; but it was not much relilhed, 
being rank and fiftiy, and thought more fit for the hogs, 
which ate it greedily, and fatted well upon it, boiled. 
11. The Ihow-goofe is in length two feet eight inches, 
and weighs between five and fix pounds. The bill is forne- 
what lerrated at the edges; the upper mandible fcarlet, 
the lower whitilh : the general colour of the plumage is 
fnow white, except the firfl ten quills, which are black, 
with white ftiafts; the legs are of a deep red. The young 
are of a blue colour, till they are a year old. Thefe are 
very numerous at Htidfori’s Bay, and called by the natives 
way-way, and wapa-whe-wht. They viflt Severn River in 
May, and flay a fortnight; but go farther north to breed : 
they return to Severn Fort the beginning of September, 
and flay till the middle of October, when they depart for 
the fouth, and are obferved to be attended with their 
' young, in flocks innumerable. At this time many thou- 
fands are killed by the inhabitants, who pluck them, and 
take out the entrails, and, putting the bodies into holes 
cUig in the ground, cover them with earth, which, freezing 
A ’S. 519 
above them, keeps them perfectly fweet throughout the 
fevere leafon; during which, there is no more to do than 
occalionally to open one of thole florehoules, when they 
find them fweet and good. They leem to occupy alfo the 
weftern fide of America. In the fummer months, they 
are plenty on the arctic coaft of Siberia, but never mi¬ 
grate beyond longitude 130. They are fuppofed to pals 
the winter in more moderate climes, as they have been 
feen flying at a great height over Silelia ; probably on their 
palfage to fome other country, as it does not appear that 
they continue there. In like manner, thole of America 
pals the winter in Carolina. Here they arrive in valt 
flocks; and feed on the roots of fage and grafs. It tiled 
to be a common practice in that country, to burn a piece 
of a marfti, which enticed the geefe to come there, as they 
could then more readily get at the roots, which gave the 
fportfman opportunity of killing as many as he pleafed. 
This fpecies is the moft numerous and the moft liupid of 
all the goofe race: 1 hey feem to want the inftinkt of o- 
thers, by their arriving at the mpuths of the ariftic Afiatic 
rivers before the fealon in which they can poflibly fiub- 
fift. They are annually guilty of the fame miftake, and 
annually compelled to make a new migration to the fouth 
in queft of food, where they pafs their time till the north¬ 
ern eftuaries are freed from the bonds of ice. They have 
fo little of the fhynefs of other geefe, that they are taken 
in the ealieft manner imaginable, about Jakut, and the 
other parts of Siberia, which they frequent. The inha¬ 
bitants firfl place, near the banks of the rive,rs, a great net,- 
in a ftraight line, or elfe form a hovel of (kins fewed to¬ 
gether. This done, one of the company drelfes hiinfelf in 
the Ikin of a wlfite rein-deer, advances towards the flock 
of.geefe,. and then turns’-back towards the net or hovel; 
and his companions go behind the flock, and by making a 
noile drive them forward. The Ample birds miftake the 
man in white for their leader, and follow him within reach- 
of their net,, which is fuddenly pulled down.and captiva.tes 
the whole. When he chooles to conduct them to the ho¬ 
vel, they follow in the fame manner; he creeps in at a 
hole left for that purpofe, and out at another on the cp- 
pofite fide, which he doles up. The geefe follow him 
through the firfl ; and, as ioon as they are got in, he palles 
round, and fecures every one. 
12. The great goofe is of a very large fize, weighing 
near twenty-five or thirty Ruffian pounds. The bill is 
-black; bafe of it tawny; body, dulky; the under parts 
are white; the legs, fcarlet. It is found in the eaft of. 
Siberia, from the. river Lena to Kamtfchatka ; and is ta¬ 
ken in great numbers, together with the red-necked goofe, 
in glades,.as we do woodcocks here, but on a larger feale. 
13. The ruficolis, or red-breafted goofe, is in length' 
twenty-one inches; weight about three pounds.. The bill 
is fmall, and brown ; the tail black ; the hides are yellow 
brown ; round the eyes fringed with brown ; fore part of 
the head and crown black, palling backwards in a narrow 
ftripe quite to the back ; on the breaft is a narrow band 
of white feathers with black ends, forming a band of 
white and another of black; the fides are ftriped with 
black ; back .and wings black,, the lafl even with the tail; 
legs- black. This moft elegant of geefe, is found to breed 
from thy mouth of the Ob, along the coafts of the Icy 
Sea, to that of the L^na. Its- winter quarters are not cer¬ 
tainly known. Small flocks are obferved in the fpring, 
. flying from the Cafpian Sea along.the Volga northward;. 
. and are feen about Zarizyn, between the fixth and tenth 
of April. They reft a little time on the banks of the 
• Sarpa, but foon relume their arftic courfe. Their winter 
retreat is probably in Perfia. They are highly efteemed 
- for the table, being quite free from any fiftiy tafte. 
14. The cafarca, or ruddy goofe, is larger than a mal¬ 
lard, and feems even larger than it really is, from the 
length of wing, and Handing high on its legs. The bill 
is black; the hides yellowilh brown; forehead,, cheeks, 
• and throat, yellowilh ; fore part of the neck ferruginous, 
. encircled with a collar of black, inclining to deep rufous 
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