bernicle : Idioms & Phrases

• (Zoöl.), a goose (Branta leucopsis), of Arctic Europe and America. It was formerly believed that it hatched from the cirripeds of the sea (Lepas), which were, therefore, called barnacles, goose barnacles, or Anatifers. The name is also applied to other related species. See Anatifa and Cirripedia.

Webster 1913