. A history of British birds . inch and three-eighths; the irides dark brown; the fore-head, cheeks, and chin, white; top of the head, nape, allthe neck and interscapulars, black; scapulars, point of thewing, both sets of wing-coverts, and tertials, lavender-grey,tipped with a crescent of bluish-black, and a,n extreme edgeof white ; primaries almost black ; rump bluish-black ; uppertail-coverts white; tail-feathers almost black; breast and bellygreyish-white ; vent and under tail-coverts pure white ; flanksand thighs tinged with grey in bars ; legs, toes, membranes,and claws black. The whole l
. A history of British birds . inch and three-eighths; the irides dark brown; the fore-head, cheeks, and chin, white; top of the head, nape, allthe neck and interscapulars, black; scapulars, point of thewing, both sets of wing-coverts, and tertials, lavender-grey,tipped with a crescent of bluish-black, and a,n extreme edgeof white ; primaries almost black ; rump bluish-black ; uppertail-coverts white; tail-feathers almost black; breast and bellygreyish-white ; vent and under tail-coverts pure white ; flanksand thighs tinged with grey in bars ; legs, toes, membranes,and claws black. The whole length of an adult male twenty-five the blunt spur at the carpal joint to the end of thefirst quill-feather, which is the longest in the wing, sixteeninches. Young birds have the white of the cheeks varied with blackfeathers ; the ends of the feathers on the back and wing-coverts tinged with rufous ; the flanks barred with darkergrey, and the legs less decidedly black. VOL. IV. P P 290 ANSBRES. A NA TID^ Bernicla brenta (Pallas*).THE BRENT GOOSE. Anser torquatus. Of the various species of Geese that visit the BritishIslands, this is the smallest as well as the most numerous,and possesses also for us the agreeable advantage of beinga good bird for the table. It is a regular winter visitor tothe shores of most of our maritime counties, and remainswith us through all the cold months of the year, particu-larly on the east and south coast. It is seldom seen onfresh water in the interior, unless wounded ; but is truly amarine species, passing a great portion of the day and nightout at sea, at other times frequenting extensive muddy flatsand sand bars on the sea-shore, which are exposed at everyebb tide. The birds make their appearance at these theirfeeding-places as soon as, or even a short time before, the * AmcrlrcnUi, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-As. ii. p. 229 (1811). BRENT GOOSE. 29L water leaves the ground exposed, remaining there, if undis-turbed, till the tide
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
