344 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



They retire at night to the water, are very clamorous while collecting ; 

 go abroad to pasture by day ; and feed principally upon vegetables, 

 and seeds, some also prey on fishes, reptiles, and small aquatic an- 

 imals. They nest on the ground, laying many eggs, are disposed to 

 polygamy, and are very courageous and resentful in defence of their 

 young, attacking the assailant with hissing which they accompany 

 by blows from their wings. 



The species are numerous and spread all over the world, but they 

 are most frequent in cold and temperate countries. 



SNOW GOOSE. 



(Anser hyperboreus, Pallas. Bonap. Synops. No. 315. Richard. 

 North. Zool. ii. p. 4C7. Anas hyperborea, and A. ccerulescens, 

 Linn. Wilson, viii. p. 76. pi. 68. fig. 5. [adult male.] and p. 89. 

 pi. 69. fig. 5. [young.] Anser niveus, Briss. vi. p. 288. 10. Snow 

 Goose, Penn. Arct. Zool. No. 477. The Blue-winged Goose, 

 Edwards, pi. 152. [young.] Phil. Museum, No. 2635.) 



Sp. Charact. — Bill rising high upon the forehead; sides of the 

 bill with longitudinal furrows, and denticulations ; tail of 16 

 feathers. — Adult white, quills black at the point: bill and feet 

 rod. Young purplish-brown ; wing coverts and rump, bluish-ash : 

 more or less white according to age. 



The Snow Goose, common to the north of both conti- 

 nents, breeds, according to Richardson, in the Barren 

 Grounds of Arctic America, in great numbers, frequenting 

 the sandy shores of rivers and lakes, and are very watch- 

 ful, employing one of their number usually as a sentinel to 

 warn them of any approaching danger. The eggs are of a 

 yellowish-white color, and are a little larger than those of 

 the Eider Duck, their length being 3 inches, and their 

 greatest breadth 2. The young fly about the close of 

 August, and the whole depart southward about the middle 

 of September. Early in November they arrive in the river 

 Delaware, and probably visit Newfoundland and the coasts 



