374> 



Barnacles* 



Are distinguished from the Common Geese by a shorter and slenderer 

 bill, the edges of which conceal the extremities of the laminae. 



France is sometimes visited during the winter by that species 

 from the north of Europe, which is so celebrated by the fabulous 

 story of its growing on trees like fruit — Anas erythropus, Gm., or 

 better, An. leueopsis, Bechst., Enl. 885 ; Frisch, 189; Naum. 1, 

 c. 39, f. 77. Its mantle is ash-coloured, its neck black ; cheeks, 

 throat, belly, and forehead white ; the bill black, and the feet grey. 



An. hernicla, Gm. ; Le Cravant\, 342; and better, Frisch, 156; 

 Naum. I, c. 39, f. 78 ; Wils. VIII, Ixxii, 1 (the Brant), is from 

 the same country. The head, neck, and quills of the wings are 

 black; the mantle a brown grey; a spot on each side of the upper 

 part of the neck, and the under part of the tail, white ; the bill 

 black, and feet brown. 



A71. cecjyptiaca, Gm. ; Le Bernache armee ; Oie d' Afrique, du 

 Cap, d'Egi/pte, &c., &c., Enl. 379, 982, 983 (the Egyptian Goose), 

 remarkable for the lustre of its colours and the small spur attached 

 to its wing, also belongs to this subgenus; it is sometimes domesti- 

 cated, but always retains a propensity to return to its wild state. It 

 is the Chenalopex or Fox Goose, held in veneration among the an- 

 cient Egyptians, on account of its attachment to its young :|:. The 



Cereopsis, Lath. 



Is a New Holland bird, very similar to the Barnacles, with a still smaller 

 bill, the membrane of which is much broader, and extends a little upon 

 the forehead. 



Cer. cinereus, Lath., Col. 206; Vieill. Gal. 284, is the only one 

 known. It is the size of a Goose, and of a grey colour. 



Anas, Meyer. 



The Ducks, properly so called, have the bill broader at its base than it 

 is high, and wider at the end than towards the head, and the nostrils 

 nearer to its back and base. Their legs being shorter than those of 

 Geese, and placed farther back, renders walking more difficult to them 

 than to the latter. Their neck also is shorter ; the trachea is inflated at 

 its bifurcation into cartilaginous capsules, the left of which is usually the 

 largest. 



The species of the first division, or those whose thumb is bordered 

 with a membrane, have a larger head, a shorter neck, the feet placed 



* Barnacle is the Scotch name of Anser leueopsis, or the true Barnacle; Klake in 

 this language signifies a goose. 



f Cravant, a corruption of grau-ent, grey Duck. 



X Geoff. St. Hilaire, Menag. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. art. Oied'Egypte. 



Add, the An. magellanica, Enl. 1006; — An. antarctica, which is closely allied to it, 

 Mus. Carls. 37, and Voy. de la Coq. Zool. 50; — An. leucoptr.ra, Brown., 111. 40; — 

 A. ruficolUs and torquata, Pall. Spicil. VI, pi. iv, which is said to penetrate as far as 

 Germany; — An. coromandelica, Enl. 949, 950; — An. madagascariensis, Enl. 770. 



