120 THB SNOW GOOSE. 



of the fore part of the head all round as far as the eyv», 

 which is of a yellowish rust-colour, intermixed with white ; 

 wad, second, the nine exterior quill-feathers, which are black, 

 ihafted with white, and white at the root; the covers of 

 these last, and also the bastard wing, are sometimes of a 

 pale ash-colour; the legs and feet, of the !*ame purplish 

 carmine as the bill ; iris, dark hazel ; the tail is rounded 

 and consists of sixteen feathers ; that, and the wings, when 

 shut, nearly of a length. 



The bill of this bird is singularly curious ; the edges of 

 the upper and lower gibbosities have each twenty -three 

 indentations, or strong teeth, on each side; the inside, or 

 concavity of the upper mandible, has also seven lateral rows 

 of strong, projecting teeth ; and the tongue, which is horny 

 At the extremity, is armed on each side with thirteen long 

 %nd sharp, bony teeth, placed like those of a saw, with their 

 points directed backwards; the tongue turned up, and viewed 

 on its lower side, looks very much like a human finger with 

 its nail. This conformation of the mandibles, exposing two 

 rows of strong teeth, has, probably, given rise to the epithet 

 Laughing, bestowed on one of its varieties, though it might, 

 with as much propriety, have been named the Grinning 

 Goose. 



The specimen from which the above description was 

 taken, was shot on the Delaware, below Philadelphia, on the 

 I5th of February, and on dissection proved to be a male; 

 the windpipe had no labyrinth, but, for an inch or two 



