GEESE AND BRANT* 



SUB-FAMILY AnsevincB. 



The geese stand midway between the swans and the 

 ducks in size and general appearance, though their ac- 

 tual affinities are not these, the swans and ducks being 

 more nearly related structurally than is either group to 

 the geese. From the swans the geese may be distin- 

 guished by their smaller size and shorter neck, by hav- 

 ing the lores, or space between the eye and bill, feath- 

 ered instead o£ naked, and the bill proportionately 

 shorter, deeper and much less broad, in some forms ap- 

 proaching a conical shape. They differ from the ducks in 

 their greater size, longer necks and legs, and usually in 

 the shape of the bill, which is relatively stouter and less 

 broad than in most ducks. An important difference is 

 seen also in the tarsus, or naked portion of the leg, 

 between the joint just where the feathers end and 

 that below, where the toes spread out. In the geese this 

 tarsus is covered with a naked skin, marked with small 

 divisions like the meshes of a net, while in the ducks 

 the front of the tarsus is covered by overlapping plates 

 which are termed scales or scutellse. Thus in the geese 

 the tarsus is said to be reticulate ; in the ducks it is scu- 

 tellate. 



In all our species the sexes are alike, but they are very 



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