NATATORES. ANATIDÆ.
T H E B ERN IC L E GOOSE.
Anas eryihropus, Bernacle Goose,
Anser lernicla, ,, ,,
■ r r‘ ' " Bernicle ,,
,, leucopsis,Common „ „
Anas „ Qig bemache,
Anser ,, ,, ,,
P enn. Brit. Zool. vol, ii. p. 237, =
Mont. Qr-nith.Dict;-'
B ew-ick, Brit. Birds» y o l^ || p, *
F lem. Brit. An, p. 127. ,
Selby, Brit. Ornitb. vol. ii. p. 268«
J enyns, Brit. Vert, p, 2.24<
GooLUi'Birds of Europe, pt. xii.
T emm. Man. d’Ornith.'vol. ii. p", ^28.
520;
T h e B e r n ic l e G oose if: another winter visiter to tlie
British Islands, appearing in considerable flocks, particularly
when the weather is severe, and is considered to ,.be; more
abundant oh the western coasts than oh those of the east;
they are naturally wild and shy, but when made captive they
very soon become as familiar as our domestic geese, and have
lived a very , long time ■ in confinement, in one instance as
much ajs thirty-two years» In a communication to the Zoological
J^oeiety, from the Earl .of Derby, the President, dated
Prescot, in May 1840, it was stated' that on the “ Great
Wate&rof his lordship’s park, a BemicleiGoose paired with,
and constantly accompanied .a Canada' Goose, but there was
no produce ; this happened last season. In the present one
the same Bernicle "Goose has paired with a White-fronted
Gogse,iand the pair have a nest with nine or ten eggs. I t
-is, noL-kno,wn,:4n' either,’case,* which was the goose- and which
the gander.” A small flock of Bernicles, consisting of one
gander and four geese, have been kept for several seasons on
•the canal in .St. James’s Park by the Ornithological' Society,
*|gpjSo,--ynnsg ones; have'beqn' produced. This species is a
regular winter ^visiter to- Ireland, and has been taken there in
the-north, north-east, at Dublin, and in the south. Mr. Sel-
,b iy $ ay s^ is Sometimes abundant on the Lancashire coast,
and in -the iSolway Firth. It has occasionally been taken in
Wales, in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex, Cambridgeshire,
. Norfolk, and in Northumberland^# They are
observed to frequent-.marshes .on the coast, where they feed
Qji the grasses, andjthe tender parts of aquatic plants. The
flesh is of good flavour, and the birds are not uncommon in
the shops of ourLondon poulterers, from November to February,
about which time they take their departure for more
northern latitude^ |^^tech*' they produee«their young. Their
nesting habits are little known; but an egg brought home by
our northern voyagers is of a greenish-white^ three inches
long, by one inch andt-eleven lines in breadth. Mr. Dann’s
note in reference to this species, says, “ A skin of this Goose
was shown me by some La|§§lnear Gillivara, wltei were ignorant
of the bird, never having'S$fn it before. I t was shot at
Killingsuvanda. I t migrates in vast numbers along the west