WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 17 
having the root of the bill black, the said bill being a 
two-inch one. 
The Gray Goose. 
Anser ferus, BLANFORD, Faun. Brit. Ind., Birds, 
Vol. IV, p. 416. 
VERNACULAR NAMES.—Sona, Kurria-sona Héns, 
Rajhéns, Hindi; Kar-héns, Bhagulpur ; 
Mogala, Mogala-battak, Nepal Terai ; Kanganzt, 
Manipur. 
The Gray Goose is the largest and most strongly built 
of the Indian species, with a big coarse bill well over 
two inches in length, with a strong nail and prominent 
teeth, shown plainly by the gaping edges. In colour it 
is generally of a brownish grey, some specimens being 
browner and others greyer. The “‘ shoulder ’’ of the 
wing is blue-grey, and so is the lower back ; the belly is 
more or less blotched with black in old birds. The bill 
and feet are fleshy pink, the colour varying in depth. 
The young bird has the lower back brownish-grey, and 
oi course no black below. There is often a white patch 
on the forehead. The whole length is about two feet 
and a half, and the closed wing about one-and-a-half, 
bill two-and-a-half inches or over ; shank three inches. 
In Europe the Gray Goose often has an orange bill, but 
apparently never in India; there, however, according 
rove tume. the colour of the bill and feet waries 
much in intensity, from creamy white hardly tinged with 
pink to dingy hvid purplish red. These differences, he 
thinks, are matters of individual complexion, as he did 
not find them dependent on season; but, on the other 
hand, often coinciding with differences in the general 
tone of plumage so variable in this species. I may add 
that the bills and feet of waterfowl vary much in inten- 
sity of colour according to the state of health of the bird, 
being pale when it is not in good form. Moreover, I 
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