Part 41

THE BRENT GOOSE BERNICLA BRENTA

Head, beak, neck, breast, feet, quills, and tail, black; on each side of the neck a patch of white with a few black feathers intermixed; upper plumage dingy; all the tail-coverts white; belly brownish grey, barred on the flanks with greyish white. Length twenty-two to twenty-three inches. Eggs greyish white.

The Wild Geese which we have hitherto been considering feed on grass, clover, and grain, in quest of which they resort to inland marshes, meadows, and arable land; but the Brent is a decidedly marine bird. During its annual visits to our shores it stays out at sea by night, cradled by the billows, and at early dawn repairs to the muddy flats and sand-banks, where it feeds exclusively on marine plants, especially laver and zostéra. As soon as these are left bare by the ebbing tide, the Brents are taught by their instinct that they have no time to lose, and hasten in 'skeins' or 'gaggles' making in their flight a trumpet-like noise which, heard at a distance, resembles that of a pack of harriers or fox-hounds in full cry. They prefer to take their stand on those parts of the ooze which are least intersected by creeks, and there, if left undisturbed, they continue to feed without intermission till the rising tide lifts them off their feet. Then, away to sea again! or, if the weather be boisterous, they seek for shelter in the rivers and estuaries. They are local in their attachments, returning annually to the same feeding-grounds. They do not associate from choice with other species, for though they may be frequently seen feeding in the vicinity of various Waders, they form no society with them, and are, indeed, in quest of different food. Sea-side fowlers are well acquainted with the peculiarity of their habits, and not only know where to look for them when they are settled, but at what points they can most easily be intercepted, going and returning. It is the custom of the fowler to conceal himself behind some lurking-place, natural or artificial; or, if this be wanting, to stretch himself on the ground. Then, as a skein, unconscious of danger, approaches, he suddenly shows himself; the birds, panic-struck, huddle together before they alter their line of flight, and the sportsman fires into the midst of them.

They are the most abundant of all the Geese which frequent our shores, and are killed in great numbers and sent to market. They come to us in November and remain till late in February, when they begin to migrate in successive flights, the youngest bird staying until April. It is not believed that they ever remain to breed, but that they repair to the Arctic regions, and make their nests of withered herbage in marshy ground.

THE BERNICLE GOOSE BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS

Forehead, sides of the head, and throat, pure white; a dark streak between the eyes and bill; head/neck, quills, and tail, black; rest of the upper plumage undulated transversely with ash-grey, black, and dull white; lower plumage white, tinged on the flanks with grey; irides dusky-brown; bill and feet black. Length two feet one inch. Eggs greenish white.

This beautiful bird occurs chiefly on the west side of Great Britain in winter. 'It then more frequently retires to the sea than to the lakes during its periods of repose, or when driven from its feeding-grounds. A large flock then presents a beautiful spectacle, as the birds sit lightly on the water, and when advancing elevate their necks. Not less beautiful do they seem when on wing; now arranged in long lines, ever undulating; at one time extending in the direction of their flight; at another obliquely, or at right angles to it, sometimes in an angular figure, and again mingling together. Their voice is clear, and rather shrill, and comes agreeably on the ear when the cries of a large flock come from a considerable distance'. In England it is far less common, but occasionally resorts to marshes both on the eastern and western coast. The mythical fragment of ancient natural history, that the Bernicle is the product of a tree, is too trite to require repetition here.

THE WHOOPER SWAN CYGNUS MÚSICUS

Whole plumage pure white, the head and nape sometimes slightly tinged with yellow; lower half of the bill quadrangular, yellow, upper black; lore and a great portion of the edge of the upper mandible yellow; irides brown; legs black; tail of twenty feathers. Young birds have the plumage grey; lore flesh-colour. Length five feet; breadth seven feet ten inches. Eggs dull white, tinged with greenish.

The ancient fable that Swans sing most sweetly before their death did not survive the age which invented it. Pliny disbelieved it, and, though the assertion may have been resuscitated from time to time as a poetic fiction, it has found no place in works on natural history.

The Swan is not musical; it rests its claims to our admiration on other grounds, unchallenged and indisputable; the unsullied white of its plumage is an apt emblem of purity, and the elegance of its movements in the water has become proverbial. The present species, which owes its name to its powerful voice, is said to be not quite so graceful as the tame Swan, but on land it is far more active. A bird which has been winged by a sportsman, and has fallen on the land, can only be overtaken by smart running. In Iceland, the summer resort of these birds, they are much sought after for the sake of their down. In the month of August, when the old birds, having cast their quill-feathers, are unable to fly, the natives assemble in bodies in the places where the Swans collect, and mounted on small but active horses chase them through the marshes, and ride many of them down; but the greater number are caught by the dogs, which always seize the birds by the neck, and so encumber them that they are then easily overtaken. But it is not the habit of Swans to remain much on land; the perfect ease with which they float and swim indicates that the water is their element, and a glance at their long necks tells at once that their nature is to feed in shallow water or on the margin of deep lakes, where with their strong bills they either tear up the stems and roots of aquatics from the bottom, or crop at their pleasure from the banks. To this kind of food they add such insects, molluscs and worms as come within their reach; and (when sailing in salt water) sea-weeds, and especially the long, ribbon-like leaves of zostéra. During summer they frequent the most secluded swamps and lakes in the wooded districts of the north, and build a very large nest in a spot unapproachable by human feet. A few go no farther north than the Orkneys and Shetlands, but their headquarters are Siberia, Iceland, Lapland, and Hudson's Bay.

After they have recovered from their summer moult, they migrate southwards, and arrive in Scotland, sometimes in large flocks, early in October. Mr. St. John, in his Wild Sports of the Highlands, gives an interesting account of their habits while in this country. He went in pursuit of a flock which had selected for their winter feeding-place some fresh-water lochs about half a mile from the sea. They passed the day mostly on the salt water, and in the evening came inland to feed. He found them on one of the smaller lochs, some standing high and dry on the grassy islands trimming their feathers after their long voyage, and others feeding on the grass and weeds at the bottom of the loch, which in some parts was shallow enough to allow of their pulling up the plants which they fed on as they swam about, while numbers of wild Ducks of different kinds, particularly Wigeons, swarmed round them, and often snatched the pieces of grass from the Swans as soon as they had brought them to the surface, to the great annoyance of the noble birds, who endeavoured in vain to drive away these most active little depredators, who seemed determined to profit by their labours. 'I observed', he says, 'that frequently all their heads were under the water at once, excepting one--but invariably one had kept his head and neck perfectly erect, and carefully watched on every side to prevent their being taken by surprise; when he wanted to feed, he touched any passer-by, who immediately relieved him in his guard, and he in his turn called on some other Swan to take his place as sentinel.'

Swans, like wild Geese, are in the habit of returning every year to the same district of country, and in passing to and from their feeding-ground keep closely to the same line of flight, a peculiarity of which fowlers take advantage by lying in ambuscade somewhere beneath their aërial road.

When disturbed on the water they generally huddle together and utter a low cry of alarm before they take flight. Owing to their great weight they have not the power of rising suddenly into the air, but flap along the water, beating the surface with their great wings, some twenty or thirty yards. The flapping noise made while this process is going on, may be heard at a great distance.

In severe winters, flocks of Whoopers, Whistling Swans, or Elks, as they are variously called, come farther south, and may be observed from time to time on different parts of the coast.

BEWICK'S SWAN CYGNUS BEWICKI

Whole plumage pure white; bill black, orange-yellow at the base; irides dark; feet black; tail of eighteen feathers. Young birds greyish brown; immature specimens tinged on the head and belly with rust-red. Length three feet nine inches; breadth forty-six to fifty. Eggs dull white, tinged with brown.

Bewick's Swan is distinguished from the Whooper, not only by the characters given above, but by strongly marked anatomical features, which were first pointed out by Mr. Yarrell, who, with the modesty and generosity for which he was noted, gave it its present name; 'Thus devoting it to the memory of one whose beautiful and animated delineations of subjects in natural history entitle him to this tribute.'

In severe winters it is fairly frequent on the coasts of England, and even abundant in Scotland. In the case of distant flocks the only criterion is size; and as this species is one-third less than the Whooper, there is little probability of an experienced observer being mistaken in the identity.

In their habits they closely resemble their congeners, but are less graceful in their movements on the water, and spend a larger portion of their time on land.

THE COMMON SHELDRAKE TADORNA CORNUTA

Head, throat, and upper back black, with green reflections; lower parts of the neck and back, flanks, rump and tail (except the black tip) white; from the shoulders a broad band of bright chestnut, which meets on the breast, passing into a broad, blotched, black band, which passes down the abdomen nearly to the tail; under tail-coverts pale reddish yellow; scapulars black; wing-coverts white; secondaries chestnut; primaries black; speculum bronzed green and purple; bill, and protuberance at the base, red; irides brown; feet crimson-red. The female wants the red protuberance on the bill, and the colours generally are somewhat less bright. Length twenty to twenty-two inches. Eggs white, tinged with green.

The Sheldrake is the largest and among the handsomest of the British Ducks, and if easy of domestication would be no doubt a common ornament of our lakes and rivers. It is, however, in Great Britain at least, a marine bird; though from one of its French names, Canard des Alpes, it would seem also to frequent the large continental lakes. Numerous attempts have been made to familiarize it with inland fresh-water haunts to which some other species readily take, but they have rarely succeeded, while to induce it to breed at a distance from its sea-side home has proved yet more difficult.

It differs from the majority of the Duck tribe in remaining on the coast of Britain throughout the year. In South Wales, for example, it is seen in winter and early spring, but about the breeding season it disappears for a few weeks. During this interval it is employed in incubation, but when its brood is hatched it is seen again, accompanied by a troop of ducklings, feeding in the creeks and marshy places. When thus discovered, the young broods are commonly hunted down by sea-side idlers for the sake of being sold to any one who cares to try the experiment of rearing them.

On the coast of Norfolk it is more usual to search for the nests, in order to secure the eggs and place them under a tame Duck or domestic Hen. The male and female keep together, not only during incubation, but until the young are able to provide for themselves. It derives the name 'Burrow Duck', by which it is also known, from its custom of making its nest either in the burrow of a rabbit or in a hole hollowed out by itself. The nest is constructed of such herbage as abounds in the neighbourhood; it is lined with down plucked from the breast of the parent bird, and contains from ten to twelve eggs.

Pennant (vol. ii, p. 257) says of these birds: "They inhabit the sea-coasts and breed in rabbit-holes. When a person attempts to take their young, the old birds show great address in diverting his attention from the brood; they will fly along the ground as if wounded, till the former can get into a place of security, and then return and collect them together."

From this instinctive cunning, Turner, with good reason, imagines them to be the chenalopex, or Tox-Goose, of the ancients; the natives of the Orkneys to this day call them the Sly-Goose, from an attribute of that quadruped.

Sheldrake are more numerous during the summer in North Britain than in the South, but in winter they are driven by the freezing of their feeding-grounds to more temperate climates. Here numbers of them meet the fate of wild fowl generally, and specimens are often to be seen exposed in the English markets, though their flesh is held in little estimation as food.