90 EGYPTIAN GOOSE. 



finally shot. Bewick's description of this single 

 specimen is as follows : " The bill is reddish- yel- 

 low, with a jointed protuberance on the base of the 

 upper mandible ; the tipper parts of the head and 

 neck are dingy brown ; the auriculars and sides of 

 the throat white, spotted with brown ; the lower 

 part of the neck, sides of the breast, and all the 

 upper plumage appear black, but this colour is lost, 

 particularly in the scapulars and tertials, which are 

 most resplendently bronzed and glossed with bril- 

 liant green, and most of the outer webs of the 

 feathers partake of the same hue ; on the bend of 

 the wings or wrist is placed a strong white horny 

 spur turning upwards, about five-eighths of an inch 

 in length, and pointing rather inwards ; the whole 

 of the edges of the wing from the alula spuria to 

 the elbow and shoulder are white, all the under 

 parts the same." The bird apparently has been 

 scarcely in complete plumage. 



Before describing the more typical ducks, we shall 

 shortly notice the swans belonging to the present 

 sub-family. They are far more natatorial in their 

 habits, their unwieldy size and weight unfitting 

 them for frequent flight, though, at the same time, 

 their powers for sustaining themselves and perform- 

 ing long migrations are very ample. The neck is 

 much more elongated than in the birds we have 

 already described, giving facilities for procuring food 

 and cropping vegetation under water, and it is used 

 in a similar manner to that member among the 



