SUBFAMILY ANSERINE. 267 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



A. Plumage of adults entirely white. 

 a. Bill all black. 



\ WHISTLING 



a'. Yellow spot on lores near eye. SWAN. 



) C.columbianus. 



TRUMPETER 



b '. No spot on lores. SWAN. 



C. buccinator. 



WHOOPING 



b. Bill, with basal portion and lores, yellow; 



SWAN. 



C. cygnus. 



remainder black. ( 



SUBFAMILY ANSERINE. 



THE GEESE. 



THIS subfamily includes the Geese of the world, ar- 

 ranged in six genera, possessing about twenty-five 

 species. Geese are about halfway between the Swan 

 and Ducks, having moderately long necks, rather long 

 legs carrying the body well above the ground, and a com- 

 paratively easy, though not a graceful, walk. They are 

 provided with a strong bill, and subsist largely upon 

 grass, which they break off from the root by a quick 

 jerk sideways. They have a powerful flight, capable of 

 being sustained for many hours at a time, and the species 

 are in the habit of associating in large flocks. The flesh 

 is very palatable, especially that of the young birds, and 

 in the Arctic regions these fowl are the main support of 

 large numbers of people. While as a rule the different 

 species are confined to separate continents or portions of 

 continents, there are cases where the same species in- 

 habits the northern part of both hemispheres. Many of 

 them can be domesticated, and they will breed in con- 

 finement. Five genera -of this subfamily are represented 

 in Xorth America. 



