BARNACLE GOOSE, or BERNICLE GOOSE, often also called BARNACLE, or BERNICLE (anser berniela or leueopsis), the bird which the fables of former days represented as deriv ing its origin from the cirrhopod of which it bears the name. It is in size smaller than the common wild goose, being only a little more than 2 ft. long, and about 5 lbs. in weight. It is very prettily marked, having the forehead, cheeks, and throat white, the bill black, and a black stripe extending from it to the eye; the crown of the head, neck, and upper part of the breast black; the rest of the plumage on the upper parts of the body chiefly ash-gray and black, in undulating bars—on the lower parts, white. It is a common winter visitant of the western coasts of Britain and of Ireland, but in the eastern parts of Britain it is rare. It retires in spring to more northern regions, where it breeds, vast numbers passing northward along the coast of Norway to the Arctic ocean. It is highly esteemed for the table.
The brent goose, or brent barnacle (anser brenta or torquatus, A. bernieta of some naturalists), has frequently received the name of the B. G., and no little confusion has existed concerning them in books of science, although the birds are sufficiently distinct. The bent goose is smaller than the B. G., being only about 21 in. in length. It is also of much darker plumage, the whole bead, throat, and neck being black, except a small patch on each side of the neck, which is white, mixed with a few regularly placed black feathers; the upper parts of the body generally almost black, and the lower parts slate gray, except the vent and under tail-coverts, which are white. It is remarable for length of wing and powerful flight, and for its distant migrations. It is very common in win ter on the British shores, but breeds in high northern latitudes. It is a winter-bird of passage in the United States arid Canada, as in Britain and on the continent of Europe.
It is excellent for the table.
Very nearly allied to these species is the red-breasted goose, or red-breasted barnacle (anger rufieollis), a beautiful bird, of which the neck and upper part of the breast are of a rich chestnut red. In size, it resembles the brent goose; it is a very rare visitant of Britain and of the continent of Europe, and is abundant only in the extreme n. of Asia.—Another species, called Hutchins' goose or barnacle (A. Hutchinsii), of dark plumage, and with a triangular patch of white on each side of the head and neck, is abundant in Hudson's bay, and the extreme n. of America.
These species are regarded by some naturalists as constituting a genus berukles, dis tinguished chiefly by a shorter and'more slender bill from the ordinary or true geese.
'The Egyptian goose or (censer .Egyptiacus) is sometimes ranked with these, sometimes made the type of ti'distinct genus, ehenalopez, upon account of the longer bill, a short spur with which the bend of the wing is armed, and the anatomical pecu liarity of a hollow bony enlargement at the bottom of the trachea of the male. It has long been kept in parks and pleasure-grounds in Britain, chiefly on account of the beauty of its plumage, and has become partially naturalized. - It is a little smaller than a com mon goose; its voice more resembles that of a wild-duck. The prevailing colour of the plumage is light chestnut-brown, minutely rayed with darker lines; the neck and part of the wings are white. Large chestnut patches surround the eyes. It is very abundant on the Nile, and is frequently figured in Egyptian sculptures. It is much esteemed for the table, and was kept and fattened for it by the ancient Egyptians. It is the chenalopea 'of Herodotus.