SUBFAMILY AXSERIN&. 271 



inent, occupying all the tip. Cutting edge of maxilla concave. 

 Skull with superorbital depressions, an unusual character. 

 Tarsus not longer than middle toe and claw. Webs of feet, 

 excised. 



But one species of this genus is known, an inhabitant of the 

 Alaskan coasts, and some of the Aleutian and other islands in 

 the Northwest, very occasionally straggling into the Pacific 

 coast States of the Union. It is a very handsome Goose, rather 

 heavy in body and of limited dispersion; a bird of the bleak 

 regions of the north, never, unless by accident, penetrating into 

 temperate climes. Great numbers are annually destroyed by 

 the natives, and its probable extinction is not likely to be 

 long delayed. 



GENUS BRANT A 

 (Greek * pptvBos, brenthos, an unknown water bird). 



Branta, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat., 1769, p. 67. Type Anas 

 bernicla, Linn. 



Bill short, high at base; nostrils situated about the middle; 

 serrations not visible ; commissure straight. Feet rather small. 



With the exception of one species, which is a straggler withiii 

 our limits, all the members of this genus are natives of North 

 America. It comprises the various forms of the " Cravat " or 

 Common Wild Goose, and the smaller species known as Brant or 

 Brent. They are scattered over the United States during the 

 winter months, throughout its length and breadth, the various 

 species having their own line of migration, which is rarely de- 

 parted from, though a few, like the Canada Goose, are met with 

 across the continent from ocean to ocean. Some of the species 

 can be domesticated, bear confinement well, and will breed in 

 captivity. The flesh of the young is very palatable, but that 

 of the old birds is to be carefully avoided. 



* If this derivation is correct, the proper name for the genus would be 

 Brenthus and not Branta. But Brenthus was proposed by Schonherr in 

 1826 for a genus of Coleoptera, antedating Sundevall's employment of the 

 same term (Meth. Nat. Av. disp. Tent., p. 145, 1873), and therefore it may not 

 be used in ornithology. In case Branta therefore is not permissible, the 

 next would be Leucoblephara. La Pres, i84o=Leucoblepharon Baird, 1858; 

 each used by its author, however, as a subgenus. These failing, Leuco- 

 pareia, Reichnb. Av. Syst. Nat., p. ix. (1852), is available. Bernicla (Boie Isis, 

 1822), is preoccupied (Bolt, crust. 1798). 



