Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Bernicle \Ber"ni*cle\, n. [OE. bernak, bernacle; cf. OF. bernac;
   prob. fr. LL. bernacula for hibernicula, bernicula, fr.
   Hibernia; the birds coming from Hibernia or Ireland. Cf. 1st
   {Barnacle}.]
   A bernicle goose. [Written also {barnacle}.]

   {Bernicle goose} (Zo["o]l.), 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}.