Genus Bernicla. Stephens, Continuation of Shaw’s Zoology, XII. p. 45,
(1824.)
Bill, small, shorter than the head, upper mandible elevated at the base,
tip with a broad nail, margins of both mandibles finely serrated. Wings,
long, pointed; tail, very short, rounded; tarsi, moderate; toes, rather
short. Probably contains six or eight species, inhabiting various parts
of the world.
Bernicla nigricans. (Lawrence.)
Anser nigricans. Lawrence, Annals N. Y. Lyceum, IV. p. 171, (1846.)
Form. Bill and head, and feet, rather small; wings, with the second
quill longest; tail, short, composed of sixteen feathers; coverts, both
above and below, long, reaching almost to the end of the tail.
Dimensions, according to Mr. Lawrence. Total length 22½ inches, alar
extent 44, bill along the ridge 1³/₁₆, from gap 1⅜, lower mandible 1¼,
length of tarsus 2¼, middle toe 2, outer 1⅞, inner 1½, weight 3 lbs.
Total length of skin from Delaware Bay, from tip of bill to end of tail
about 22 inches, wing 13¾, tail about 5 inches.
Colours. Male. Neck almost completely encircled by a band of white,
broadest immediately in front, and narrowest behind. Head, neck, breast
and abdomen, glossy black, having on the latter a brownish tinge. Upper
parts of the body umber brown, nearly black on the rump, some of the
feathers with paler margins; quills and tail feathers brownish black.
Feathers on the sides and flanks tipped with white; upper and under tail
coverts, and ventral region, white. Bill and feet dark, nearly black.
Hab. Atlantic coast, New Jersey. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. The Black Brant is nearly related to the common Brant (_B.
brenta_), but can readily be distinguished by the uniform black colour
of the inferior parts of the body, and the ring on the neck
uninterrupted in front, and not separated into two white patches on the
sides of the neck, as in the common species. It appears also to bear
some resemblance to the _Bernicla glaucogastra_, Brehm. Handb. Vogel
Deutschlands, p. 849 (Ilmenau, 1831), but may be distinguished from it
also by the characters just mentioned.
SYNOPSIS
OF THE
SPECIES OF BIRDS
INHABITING THE CONTINENT OF AMERICA, NORTH OF MEXICO.