Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/802

Rh 778 differing except in size, throws some doubt on the older records, especially since examples which have recently been obtained in the British Islands undoubtedly belong to this lesser bird, and it would be satisfactory to have the occur- rence in the Old World of the true 0. I13/perboreus placed on a surer footing. So nearly allied to the species last named as to have been often confounded with it, is the Blue-winged Goose, C’. ccerulescens, which is said never to attain a snowy plumage. Then we have a very small species, long ago described as distinct by Hearne, the Arctic traveller, but until 1861 discredited by ornithologists. Its distiuctness has now been fully recognized, and it has received, somewhat unjustly, the name of C’. rossi. Its face is adorned with numerous papillae, whence it has been removed by Mr Elliot to a separate genus, E.r.‘anfhenz0ps, and for the same reason it has, for more than a cen- tury, been known to the European residents in the fur countries as the “ Horned Wavey ”——-the last word being a rendering of a native name, Wmva, which signiﬁes Goose. Finally, there appears to belong to this section, though it has been frequently referred to another (C/zloep/mga), and has also been made the type of a distinct genus (I’/cilacte), the beautiful Painted Goose, C. ccma_(ica, which is almost peculiar to the Aleutian Islands, though straying to the con- tinent in winter, and may be recognized by the white edg- ing of its remiges. The southern portions of the New World are inhabited by about half a dozen species of Geese, akin to the foregoing, but separated as the genus C/eloep/zaga. The most notice- able of them are the Rock or Kelp Goose, C. antm-ctica, and the Upland Goose, C’. magellazzicct. In botl1 of these the sexes are totally unlike in colour, the male being nearly white, while the female is of a mottled brown, but in others a greater similarity obtains} Very nearly allied to the birds of this group, if indeed that can be justiﬁably separ- ated, comes one which belongs to the northern hemisphere, and is common to the Old World as well as the New. It contains the Geese which have received the common names of Bernacles or Brents,'~’ and the scientiﬁc appellations of Bernicla and Branta—for the use of either of which much may be said by nomenclaturists. All the species of this sec- tion are distinguished by their general dark sooty colour, relieved in some by white of greater or less purity, and by way of distinction from the members of the genus Anser, which are known as Grey Geese, are frequently called by fowlers Black Geese. Of these, the best known botl1 in Europe and North America is the Brent-Goose——-the Anas bernicla of Linnaeus, and the B. torquata of many modern writers-—a truly marine bird, seldom (in Europe at least) quitting salt- water, and coming southward in vast ﬂocks towards autumn, frequenting bays and estuaries on our coasts, where it lives chieﬂy on sea-grass (Zostera marz'tz'ma). It is known to breed in Spitsbergen and in Greenland. A form which is by some ornithologists deemed a good species, and called by them B. m"r/ricans, occurs chieﬂy on the Paciﬁc coast of North America. In it the black of the neck, which in the common Brent terminates just above the breast, extends over most of the lower parts. The true Bernacle-Goose,3 the B. leucopsis of most authors, is b11t a casual visitor to 1 See Sclater and Salvin, P-roe. Zool. Society, 1876, pp. 361-369. 9 The etymology of these two words is exceedingly obscure, and no useful purpose could be attained by discussing it here, especially as any disquisition upon it must needs be long. Suffice it to say that the ordinary spelling Berniele seems to be wrong, if we may judge from the analogy of the French Bernache. In both words the e should be sounded as a. 3 The old fable, perhaps still believed by the uneducated in some parts of the world, of Bemacle-Geese being produced from the Ber- nacles (Lepaxlidae) that grow on timber exposed to salt-water, is not more absurd than many that in darker ages had a great hold of the popular mind, and far less contemptible than the conceited spirit in which many modern zoologists and botanists often treat it. They GOOSE North America, but is said to breed in Iceland, and occa- sionally in Norway. Its usual mcunabula, however, still form one of the puzzles of the ornithologist, and the chili- culty is not lessened by the fact that it will breed freely in semi-captivity, while the l3rent—Goose will not. From the latter the Bernacle-Goose is easily distinguished by its larger size and white cheeks. Ilutchins’s Goose (II. II2ztcIzz'nsz') seems to be its true representative in the New World. In this the face is dark, but a white crescentic or triangular patch extends from the throat on either side upwards behind the eye. Almost exactly similar in colora- tion to the last, but greatly superior in size, and possessing I8 rectrices, while all the foregoing have but 16, is the common wild Goose of America, B. canaclezzsiv, which, fi r some two centuries or more, has been introduced into Europe, where it propagates so freely that it has been included by nearly all the ornithologists of this quarter of the globe, as a member of its fauna. An allied form, by some deemed a species, is B. leucopareiu, which ranges over the western part of North America, and, though having I8 rectrices, is distinguished by a white collar round the lower part of the neck. The most diverse species of this group of Geese are the beautiful B. 9'u,7icoZl2's, a native of North- eastern Asia, which occasionally strays to Western Europe, and has been obtained more than once in Britain, and that which is peculiar to the Hawaian archipelago, B. smu]z'i- censzs. The largest living -loose is that called the Chinese, Guinea, or Swan—Goose, C-'3/‘r/rzopsis c_z/3/zzoides, and it seems to be the stock whence the domestic Geese of several Eastern countries have sprung. It may not unfrequently be seen in English farmyards, and it is found to cross readily with our common tame Goose, the offspring being fertile, and I-llyth has said that these crosses are very abundant in India. The true home of the species is in Eastern Siberia or Mongolia. It is distinguished by its upright bearing, which has been well rendered by Bewick’s excellent ﬁgure. The Ganders of the reclaimed form are distinguished by the knob at the base of the bill, but the evidence of many observers shows that this is not found in the wild race. Of this bird there is a perfectly white breed. We have next to mention a very curious form, C'¢re0ps1's 7zova=-/zollamlice, which is peculiar to Australia, and appears to be a more terrestrial type of Goose than any other now existing. Its short, decurved bill and green ccre give it a very peculiar expression, and its almost uniform grey plumage, bearing rounded black spots, is also remarkable. It bears captivity well, breeding in conﬁnement, and may be seen in many parks and gardens. It appears to have been formerly very abundant in many parts of Australia, from which it has of late been externiinated. Some of its peculiarities seem to have been still more exag<rerated in a bird that is wholly extinct, the Cnemiormls cult.-z't-rmzs of New Zealand, the remains of which were described in full by Professor Owen in 1873 (Trans. Zool. Socz'eI_2/, ix. p. 253). Among the first portions of this singular bird that were found were the tibia’, presenting an extraordinary development of the patella, which, united with the shank- bone, gave rise to the generic name applied. For some time the affinity of the owner of this wonderful structure was in doubt, but all hesitation was dispelled by the dis- covery of a nearly perfect skeleton, now in the British Museum, which proved the bird to be a Goose, of great size, and unable, from the shortness of its wings, to ﬂy. should remember that the doctrine of spontaneous generation has still many adherents, and that seems -to be hardly less extravagant than the notion of birds growing from “ worms,” as they were then called. The mistake of our forefathers is of course evident, but that is no reason for deriding their innocent ignorance as some of our cor:tcn:- poraries are fond of doing.