A NSERES. ANATIDÆ.
Bernicla leucopsis (Bechstein*).
THE BERNACLE GOOSE.
Anser leucojpsis.
The Bernacle Goose is a winter visitor to the British
Islands, appearing in considerable flocks, particularly when
the weather is severe, and is considered to be more abundant
on the western coasts than on those of the east. It has been
so frequently confounded with its far commoner relative the
Brent Goose, that it is somewhat difficult to sketch its distribution
; but from the statements of Messrs. Stevenson,
J. H. Gurney, jun., J. Cordeaux, and W. Eagle Clarke, it
appears to be a distinctly rare visitor— and only when the
winters are very severe on the Continent—to the coasts of
Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire. In Northumberland
examples were obtained in 1855 and in November 1866, near
Holy Island; but Mr. Abel Chapman, who has had subse- *
* Anser leucopsis, Bechstcin, Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 424 (1803).
quent experience of that locality, informs the Editor that he
has never met with it. Nor does it seem to be a frequent
visitor to the east coast of Scotland, and in Shetland Saxby
only observed it once: at Balta Sound, in July 1854. On the
west side it is much more abundant, and, according to Mr. R.
Gray, it is a regular winter visitor to certain favourite and
suitable feeding-grounds in the Inner Hebrides. Mr. Elwes
states that large flocks annually frequent Islay throughout the
winter, being partial to an island near Ardnave, where they
find plenty of grass. They are not so shy as the Grey Geese,
and both when feeding and when on the wing they keep up
a constant cackling, whereas the Grey Geese usually feed in
silence. The Bernacle Goose visits the coasts of Cumberland;
and in Lancashire, according to Mr. F. S. Mitchell, it
is a regular winter visitor, occasionally seen inland, and in
severe weather sometimes appearing on the coast in considerable
numbers. It has been obtained on the coast of
Wales; and small parties are stated by Rodd to appear in
Cornwall now and then in severe winters. On the south
coast it is decidedly uncommon, although examples have
been recorded from time to time in Devonshire, Dorsetshire,
Sussex, Kent, and probably the entire littoral; also occasionally
in some of the inland counties.
In Ireland the Bernacle Goose appears to be very local m
its distribution ; and, according to Sir R. Payne-Gallwey, it is
comparatively rare in the south, but more common in the
north, north-west, and Dundalk Strand and Lurgan Gieen,
on the east. In many places the Brent Goose is misnamed
the Bernacle, but where they are distinguished the present
species is known as the ‘White-fronted’ or ‘Land Bernacle.
This Goose is only a rare straggler to the Faroes; and
although Faber says that it inhabits Iceland from April to
October, it has not yet been proved to breed there. The
last remark also applies to Greenland, to some portions of
which it is a regular autumnal visitor, and Graah records it
from the east coast of that peninsula. Its occurrence on the
western side of Spitsbergen has been doubted, but the Rev.
A. E. Eaton states (Zool. s.s. p. 3815), that on liis visit to