fs 
ANATIDA — ANSERINA!: GEESE. 683 
to the hind edge of the nostril more than thence to the end of the bill. Tail-feathers normally 
20. Length under 5 feet; extent 6 or 7 feet; wing under 2 feet; tail 7 or 8 inches. Bill about 
4.00 along culmen ; 
from eye to tip of bill un- 
der 5.00; tarsus 4.00; 
middle toe and claw 
5.50. Young smaller; 
plumage ashy - gray, 
with reddish - brown 
wash on head and upper 
neck ; bill in part flesh- 
colored, the lores plu- 
mulose ; feet yellowish 
flesh-color. N. Am. at 
large, U. S. in winter 
and during the migra- 
tion ; the usual species 
along the Atlantic coast, 
and more numerous on 
either coast than in in- 
terior U. S.; rare or 
: Ei tts ree ; 
casual, however, in Fie. 472. — Whistling Swan. (From Lewis.) 
New England and eastward. Breeds only in the high north. Eggs 2-5, from 4.00 X 2.25 
to 4.50 X 2.50, with rough dull white shell, with more or less brownish discoloration. 
C. mu'sicus. (Gr. povorkds, mousikos, Lat. musicus, musical.) WHooprnc Swan. Similar 
to C. columbianus, and having the same shape of the bill, but instead of a small yellow spot 
behind the nostrils there is a great yellow blotch, occupying one half or more of the bill and 
extending beyond the nostrils. Only N. Am. as occurring in Greenland: Reinh., Ibis, 1861, 
p- 13 of the reprint; Freke, Zool., v, 1881, p. 372. 
[C. be’wicki. (To Thos. Bewick.) Brwicx’s Swan. A European species, incorrectly 
attributed to N. A. in the 2d ed. of the Check List, which see, p. 111.] 
66. Subfamily ANSERINA: Geese. 
Lores completely feathered ; tarsi entirely 
reticulate; hind toe simple. Neck in length 
between that of swans and of ducks; cervical 
vertebrae about 16; body elevated and not so 
much flattened as in the ducks; legs relatively 
longer; tarsus generally exceeding, or at least 
not shorter than, the middle toe; bill generally 
rather short, high and compressed at base, and 
tapering to tip, which is less widened and flat- 
tened than is usual among ducks and almost 
wholly oceupied by the broad nail. The 
J species as a rule are more terrestrial, and walk 
Fig. 473. — Common (a) and Black (b) Brant. better, than ducks; they are generally herbiv- 
orous, although several maritime species (Philacte, and an allied South American group) are 
animal-feeders, and their flesh is rank. Both sexes attend to the young. A notable trait, 
shared by the swans, is their mode of resenting intrusion by hissing with outstretched neck, 
