WHITE-FACED BERNICLE-GOOSE. 623 



Male in Winter. — This very beautiful Goose, much in- 

 ferior in size to any of the preceding species, and consider- 

 ably larger than the next, has the body full, the neck long, 

 slender toward its upper part, the head small, oblong, and 

 compressed. 



The bill is much shorter than the head, of greater height 

 than breadth at the base, somewhat conical, at the end con- 

 siderably depressed ; the upper mandible with the dorsal 

 line straight and sloping as far as the unguis, which is 

 roundish and very convex, the ridge flattened at the base, 

 presently narrowed and convex, the sides sloping, the edges 

 almost straight, soft, and marginate, with about thirty 

 oblique lamellae, of which the outer dentiform extremities 

 are scarcely apparent ; the lower mandible with the inter- 

 crural space long, rather wide, anteriorly rounded, the lower 

 outline of the crura nearly straight, their sides convex, 

 sloping outward, with a groove along the margin, the 

 lamellae about forty, the unguis roundish, slightly convex. 



The nostrils are medial, lateral, longitudinal, oblong, 

 three- twelfths and a quarter in length, pervious, in the 

 anterior part of the large, elliptical nasal space, which is 

 filled by membrane. The eyes are small. The feet short 

 and stout ; the tibia bare for half-an-inch ; the tarsus rather 

 short, compressed, covered all round with small angular 

 scales. The hind toe is extremely small, elevated, with two 

 scutella ; the second toe with fourteen, the third with 

 twenty, the fourth with six scutella, a great part of their 

 extent being covered with scales ; the hind toe with a slight 

 inferior web ; the inner with an expanded, thin, two-lobed 

 margin ; the interdigital membranes reticulated, the outer 

 with its margin concave. The claws are small, arcuate, 

 rather depressed, obtuse, that of the middle toe with its 

 inner side expanded and the tip rounded. 



The mouth is of moderate width; the tongue fleshy, 

 convex, and medially grooved above, with the sides parallel 

 and serrated, the tip thin, horny, and rounded. The oeso- 

 phagus is twelve inches long, and has a general width of 

 about an inch, but is somewhat wider toward the lower part 

 of the neck. The stomach is transversely oblong, its greatest 



