AN SERES. A NAT ID^E.
Bernicla brenta (Pallas*).
THE BRENT GOOSE.
Anser torquatus.
Of the various species of Geese that visit the British
Islands, this is the smallest as well as the most numerous,
and possesses also for us the agreeable advantage of being
a good bird for the table. It is a regular winter visitor to
the shores of most of our maritime counties, and remains
with us through all the cold months of the year, particularly
on the east and south coast. It is seldom seen on
fresh water in the interior, unless wounded ; but is truly a
marine species, passing a great portion of the day and night
out at sea, at other times frequenting extensive muddy flats
and sand bars on the sea-sliore, which are exposed at every
ebb tide. The birds make their appearance at these their
feeding-places as soon as, or even a short time before, the
* Anser brenta, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-As. ii. p. 229 (1811).
water leaves the ground exposed, remaining there, if undisturbed,
till the tide flows over the ground again. In such
situations the large flocks that frequent certain favourite
localities are quite extraordinary.
Upon the Northumbrian coast, Selby observes that, a
very large body of these birds annually resorts to the extensive
muddy and sandy flats that lie between the mainland
and Holy Island, and which are covered by every flow of the
tide. This part of the coast appears to have been a favourite
resort of these birds from time immemorial, where they
have always received the name of Ware Geese, given to
them, without doubt, in consequence of their food consisting
entirely of marine vegetables. This I have frequently verified
by dissection ; finding the gizzard filled with the leaves
and stems of a species of grass that grows abundantly in
the shallow pools left by the tide, and with the remains of
the fronds of different algse, particularly of one, which seems
to be the Laver (Ulva latissima). In this haunt they remain
till the end of February, when they migrate m successive
flocks, as the individuals happen to be influenced by the
season, and before April the whole have disappeared. When
they depart the same procedure as that mentioned by Wilson,
in his American Ornithology, takes place; the flock about
to migrate rises high into the air by an extensive spiral
course, and then moves off seaward in a northerly direction.
In Scotland this species is common on the east side, but
on the west coast and islands it is said by Mr. R. Giay to be
less abundant and less regular in its visits than the Bernacle.
It comes to the Shetlands in autumn, but Saxby considers
it too scarce there to have received the local name ot Hon a
Goose,’ by which it is said to be known in the Orkneys.
With these exceptions the Brent Goose is found in abundance
during winter in suitable localities, round the coasts
of Great Britain; and vast numbers occur in many places
on the shores of Ireland.
On migration the Brent Goose visits the Fieioes, the
coasts of Scandinavia, and the shores of Europe generally,
down to the African and the Asiatic sides of the basin of