THE BERNICLE GOOSE.*

As a singular specimen of credulity and fallacious reasoning, we give an extract from the "Herbal " of Gerard, who lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth: "There is," he says, "a small island in Lancashire, called the Pile of Foulders (on the west side of the entrance into Morecambe Bay, about fifteen miles south of Ulverston), wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships, and also the trunks and bodies, with the branches of old and rotten trees cast up their likeness; whereon is found a certain spume or froth, that, in time, hardeneth unto certain shells, in shape like those of the muskle but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour, wherein is contained a thing in form like a lace of silke finely wove as it were together; one end whereof is fastened unto the inside of the shell, even as the fish of oisters and muskles are; the other end is made fast unto the belly of a rude mass or lump, which in time cometh to the shape and form of a bird; when it is perfectly formed, the shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the aforesaid lace or string; next come the legs of the bird hanging out, and, as it groweth greater, it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth, and hangeth only by the bill; in short space after, it cometh to full maturitie, and falleth into

the sea, where it gathereth feathers, and groweth to a fowl bigger than a mallard, and lesser than a goose, which the people in Lancashire call by no other name than a tree-goose; which place aforesaid and all those parts adjoining, do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for three pence."

The popular error that the molluscous animal called the bernicle contained the young of a species of goose, called in consequence the Bernicle Goose, lasted for many ages, and still prevails among the uneducated on the shores of all the European seas. One reason of the continuance of this error in several Roman Catholic countries, is the permission granted by the priest to eat this goose on fishdays, because it was considered to partake more of the character of a fish than of a fowl.

It may seem strange to the reader, yet the following notice, sent by Sir Robert Moray to the Royal Society, actually appears in their printed Transactions. He says: "The pedicle seems to draw and convey the matter which serves for the growth and vegetation of the shell, and the little bird within it. In every shell that I opened I found a perfect sea-fowl, the little bill like that of a goose, eyes marked; the head, breast, wings, tail, and feet formed; the feathers everywhere perfectly

*Anser bernicla,

VOL. III.

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49

THE NEW HOLLAND CEREOPSIS.

887

marked, and embrace striking modifications of various organs. They consist chiefly in the form of the bill, the naked part of which is extremely short, and forms a kind of truncated hook; in the large open nostrils placed near the middle of the cere, which is very broad, and leaves but a small portion of the bill uncovered; in the somewhat greater length of the legs, which are bare of feathers for some distance above the knees; in all the toes being more robust; and in the number of tail-feathers, which are sixteen in the cereopsis, while there are only twelve in the goose.

THE GOOSANDER.*

THE birds belonging to the genus Mergus live on lakes, ponds, and rivers. They destroy a vast abundance of fish, and, for their destructive powers in this respect, have been compared to the otters.

It is for the purpose of retaining the slippery fish that the mandibles and tongues of these birds are furnished with dentilations and papillæ, which facilitate the entrance of food into the gullet. So great is the bulk of the fish that they sometimes swallow, that they cannot be introduced completely into the stomach, the body descending there only when the head is digested. The gizzard of the Merganser is less muscular than that of the ducks; their intestines and cæca are shorter; the swallowing part of the lower larynx in males is enormous, and partly membranous.

THE GREBES.+

THE Grebes live on lakes and ponds, and build in the rushes. They swim with equal facility either on or beneath the surface of the water; in the latter case they use their wings as if flying in the liquid element. Their food consists of fishes, insects, and aquatic reptiles; but the stomach, when

dissected, is usually found to contain a mass of feathers, which it would appear the bird had taken from its own plumage.

The title given to this genus of birds refers to the lobated form of their toes, which differ from those of every other race of aquatic birds. Instead of being webbed, as in the duck tribe and others of the Natatores, they are completely separate and flattened, having their edges furnished with a broad, stiff membrane, each toe being, in fact, a distinct and beautifully-formed paddle. Of the three anterior toes, the outermost is the longest and largest; the next is nearly as large, and its outer edge lies tile-like over the inner membrane of the outermost; the innermost toe is less than the middle one, on which its outer edge impinges. The hind toe is short, placed high on the leg, and furnished with a lobated membrane. The arrangement of the scales crossing the toes gives to them a leaf-like appearance; for the lines dividing the scales run in regular succession obliquely upwards from a central line or shaft, formed by the bones advancing to the tips, which are covered with a broad, flat nail. The leg is short, and flattened laterally, so as to cut the water when drawn up after each stroke. The largeness of the outer toe, at the first glance surprising, is a necessary and beautiful provision; for, by this arrangement, the impetus of the stroke of each foot is carried in a line obliquely forwards to the anterior part of the chest, to which it converges; while, were the structure arranged differently, the line of the impulse of the stroke would diverge from the body, and there would be a waste of power.

The nests of these birds are placed among the thick reeds and luxuriant aquatic herbage of marshes, or the sedges which border fresh-water lakes and rivers. They are composed of masses of half-decayed roots, dried flags, and other similar materials. Each one is large and compact, but roughly constructed, and rises and falls according to the rise and fall of the water on which it floats. There are three or four eggs.

The Crested Grebe * is the largest of the genus. It breeds annually amidst the moors and fens of our marshy districts. As the winter sets in, and the still waters begin to freeze, it migrates to the larger rivers, and there moults, where it obtains fish and small crustacea, which form its winter food. When Mr. Selby was making a tour through Holland, accompanied by Sir W. Jardine, he gave chase to a crested grebe on one of the lakes in the neighbourhood of Rotterdam, and, though in a boat conducted by those most accustomed to the business, it cost severe exertion for upwards of an hour and a half to get within range, and secure it by a shot through the neck. The Horned Grebet is plentiful in the north-east of Europe, in Northern Asia, and in North America. Dr. Richardson found it in the fur countries, frequenting every lake with grassy borders. The Eared Grebe occasionally breeds in the eastern counties of England, and is common in the northern parts of Europe. The Little Grebe § is the smallest and most interesting of the grebes. It is common in all the southern counties of Britain, wherever ponds and small lakes, fringed with reeds and dense herbage, offer it a refuge. Shy and wary, on the least appearance of danger it dives instantly, and takes shelter amidst the reeds, where it is effectually concealed.

THE DIVERS.||

THE Divers nearly resemble the grebes, from which they differ but little, except in their palmated feet. Like them, too, while on the land they are beset with difficulties in their locomotions; on the water, they are entirely at ease.

In these birds the legs are situated more posteriorly than they are in any other bird. This causes their walking to be painful, and obliges them, when on shore, to preserve a vertical position. As, moreover, the greater part of them are bad fliers, and as many of them cannot fly at all, on account of the extreme shortness of their wings, they may be considered as almost exclusively confined to the surface of the water. In consequence of this their plumage is closer, and it often presents a smooth surface, with a silvery brightness. They swim under water with the help of their wings, almost in the manner of fins. They have a peculiar muscle on each side the lower larynx.

* Podiceps cristatus.

+ Podiceps cornutus.

Podiceps auritus.

§ Podiceps minor. || Colymbidæ.