242 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
greenish black on each side of the bill, and a longitudinal one on the 
occiput. ‘The tufted crest, neck, scapulars, small coverts of the wing, 
and all the lower parts are pure white ; the upper part of the back, 
the two crescents under the sides of the breast, and the edges of the 
scapulars are deep black; the tail is ash-coloured ; sides and thighs 
are varied with ash-coloured zigzags ; bill, tarsi, and toes are bluish 
ash ; webs black, and the iris brown. In habit the Smew greatly 
resembles the Goosanders. 
The Goose (Azser) forms a special genus among the Palmipedes. 
Fig. 90.—The Smew. 
It 1s a bird which is often spoken of with contempt, though very 
improperly, for few birds are able to afford mankind a greater amount 
of service. 
THE Witp GEESE (Azser). 
The Wild Goose, though by no means elegant in form, has none of 
the awkwardness of the Domestic Goose, which is generally supposed 
to be descended from it. ‘The body of the Grey-lag Goose is large 
and full; the neck long, at its upper part slender; the head propor- 
tionately small, ovate, oblong, and rather compressed; the feathers 
of the head are small, short, rounded and blended, of a greyish 
brown; those of the upper part of the neck small and oblong, and 
arranged in ridges with deep intervening grooves, gradually getting 
paler until it fades into greyish white; the wings are long, reaching 
