PALMIPEDES. 373 



elegant, it is true, but which have the same kind of bill. Several have a 



tubercle at its base. The most common, 



/In. cygnoides, L. ; Oi de Guinee, Enl. 357, is bred in poultry- 

 yards, where it mixes with the geese. It is a whitish-grey with a 

 brown-grey mantle ; the male is recognised by a feathered appendage 

 which hangs under his bill, and by a large tubercle which surmounts 

 its base. Another species, much rarer, called by its first describers 

 j4n. (jamhensis, L. ; Oi de Gamble, Lath. Syn. Ill, p. 2, pi. 102, 

 is remarkable for its size, long legs, tubercle on the forehead, and 

 for two large spurs with which its wing is armed. Its plumage is a 

 purple black, the throat, and under part of the body and wings, 

 white*. 



Anser, Briss. 



Geese have a moderate or short bill, narrower before than behind, and 

 higher than wide at the base ; their legs, being longer than those of the 

 ducks, and placed nearer the centre of the body, increase their facility in 

 walking. Several of them feed on seeds and plants. There is no in- 

 flation at the root of the trachea, nor is there any curve in that organ in 

 any of the species known. 



Geese, properly so called, 



Have a bill as long as their head ; the ends of the lamellae extend to its 

 edges, appearing like pointed teeth. 



yin. anser, L. (the Common Goose), which has acquired all sorts 

 of colours in our poultry-yards, originates from a wild species that is 

 grey, with a brown mantle undulated with grey and an orange- 

 coloured bill, the y4ns. cinereus, Meyer; Albin. 90; Naum. Ed. I, 

 pi. 41, f. 60. There is another species, however, which arrives 

 late in the fall, and which may be known by its wings being longer 

 than the tail, and by some white spots on the forehead; its bill is 

 orange, with black base and point. Ans. seqetum, Meyer, Enl. 

 985; Frisch, 155; Naum. I, c. 42, f. 61. We have often seen, 

 in winter. 



Anus alhifrons, Gm. ; LOie rieuse ; Edw. 153; Naum. Ed. I, 

 43, f. 62. (The White-fronted Goose). It i^ grey, with a black 

 belly and white forehead. 

 The north of both continents produces a fourth species. 



An. hyperborea, Gm. ; Wils. VIII, xlviii, 5 ; and the young 

 Ixix, 5, Naum. Ed. I, Sup. pi. 23, f. 46. (The Snow-Goose). 

 White; feet and bill red; tips of the wing-quills black. It some- 

 times wanders into the temperate parts of Europe during the preva- 

 lence of heavy gales in winter. The young bird is more or less 

 grey. It is the An. ccerulescens, Gm., Edw. 152. The 



* Buff, has confounded this goose with a variety of the Oie d'Egypte, Enl. 982. 

 The figure of Latham is defective, inasmuch as it shews hut one spur; the helmet 

 also is not salient. 



This is also the place for the (He bronze a irete sur le bee, Ipeeati apoa, of Marcgr. 

 {Am. melanolos), Enl. 937, Vieill. 285. 



