PALMIPEDES. 263 



are more or less common in Britain during the winter, tne three first of which have been much confused. The 

 colour of all is nearly that of a coloured domestic Goose. The Grey-lap: Goose (A. cinereus), at once distinguished 

 by the pale grey colour of its rump, which in all the others is dark blackish-brown. The bill also is larger and 

 broader, with more strongly marked lamellae : the hue of it reddish flesh-colour, tinged with yellowish in summer, 

 with always a white terminal nail to the upper mandible, except when very young ; and the le^s flesh-coloured. 

 This, which is obviously the origin of the common tame Goose, is at present much the rarest in the British Isles, 

 though it formerly bred abundantly in the fenny counties. The common statement that the male of the tame 

 Goose invariably becomes white in the course of a few years, is untrue. The most nearly allied to it is the 

 White-fronted Goose (A. albi/ront), considerably smaller, with always a white forehead in the adult, and ordinarily 

 more or less black on the under-parts, appearing in irregular patches ; traces of which may likewise be sometimes 

 found in the preceding species : its legs are orange-yellow, and bill flesh-coloured, with a white r.ail except when 

 very young. This species is very common in winter, but has not hitherto been known to breed here. A still 

 more abundant species is the Bean Goose (A. segetum), nearly as large as the first, with orange legs, and narrower 

 bill, generally blackish, with an orange band across it, and a black nail : the latter is very rarely white in aged 

 specimens, which often have the bill nearly wholly yellow, but never quite. The Bean Goose breeds sparingly in 

 Sutherland, and some parts of Ireland. Lastly, the rink-footed Goose (A. brar/ii/njnr/nts, Baillon ; A. phtrni- 

 coptu, Bartl.) is distinguished from the last by its inferior size, and pinkish-red legs, together with its shorter 

 bill, the similar cross-band of which is permanently of a reddish-colour. It is not very common, though 

 more so than the first, and combines the general form of the Bean Goose with the legs of the Grey-lag.] 



The Barnacles — 

 Are distinguished from ordinary Geese by a shorter and more slender bill, the edges of which conceal 

 the extremities of the laminae, [though there is no drawing the line of separation, and the preseut 

 division is generally rejected as superfluous. 



Two are common in Britain, and found on both sides of the Atlantic, each retiring very far north to breed, more 

 particularly the second species. The Barnacle Goose (A. leucopsis) ; much smaller than any of the preceding, 

 with a grey mantle, the feathers broadly edged with black, a black neck, and white visage : and the Brent Goose 

 (A. bcrnicla), still less, and nearly all black above, with a white spot on each side of the middle of its neck. This 

 bird is one of the finest for the table of the whole tribe. A third (A. ruficol/is), common on the shores of the 

 Caspian, and as far eastward as Lake Baikal, occurs as a rare occasional straggler, and has the smallest bill 

 of any]. 



The Egyptian Goose, or Bargander, (An. a-gvptiaca, Gm.), revered by the ancient Egyptians for the affection 

 it evinces for its young, and remarkable for its display of colours, and for the small spur on the bend of its 

 wing, also pertains to this subgenus: it is sometimes domesticated, but always retains a propensity to return 

 to the wild state. [This species very properly constitutes the division Chcnetopex, Swainson, and is a modifica- 

 tion of the distinct Shieldrake group, all of which belong to the higher division of Geese, and not to the Ducks. 

 There is a single inflated labyrinth at the bottom of its trachea, which, with its plumage, and the character of the 

 down of the young, helps to intimate its real affinities*.] 



The Cereopsis {Cereopsis, Latham) — 

 Is a New Holland bird, nearly related to the Barnacles, [so far as the beak alone would indicate,] but 

 with a still smaller bill, the membrane of which is much broader, and extends a little upon the forehead. 

 [This species seldom, if ever, enters the water, and has long legs, which are bare above the joint.] 



We only know one, the Grey Cereopsis (C. cinereus, Latham), of a grey colour, with black spots, and as large as 

 a tame Goose. [It breeds freely in this country, and possesses a tracheal labyrinth]. 



The Ducks, properly so called, {.inas, Meyer), — 

 Have the bill broader than high at its base, and wider at the end than towards the brad ; the nostrils 

 also more approximated towards its back and base. The shortness ami backward position of their legs 

 render their gait upon land more difficult than in the Geese; and they have also a shorter neck, and 

 their trachea is inflated at its bifurcation into cartilaginous labyrinths, of which tin' left i> generally tin; 

 larger. [Thej subsist to a greater or less extent on animal diet, and the sexes are always different in 

 colouring, the charge of the young being entirely left to the female, ami the male approximating to the 

 female colouring immediately after the breeding season.] 



The species of the first division, or those in which the hind toe is bordered by a membrane, have a 

 larger head, a shorter neck, the feet placed further backward, smaller wings, a more rigid tail, the tarsi 

 more compressed, and the toes longer, with more complete webs. They walk with more difficulty, ami 

 live almost exclusively on animal food, diving very often. [The plumage is generall] moulted once 



• Thr .■/. Uagi Monica and antartttta, alia, referred by the Aulho* I Rjrurcd by M. Eyton. The tralh la, thai theai trivial owdllcstiou of 



to his division o( Burns. 1. «, llkewlie appertain i" thr Shleldraka I tiir bill arc 01 tobat ■ ■ «, >" lb* Breawil extanarei scries. 

 (roup, as shown by their anatomy : Ihiir tracheal labyrinths ■!• — BD. 



