GREY-LAG GOOSE. 151 



extremity of each mandible white ; the irides brown ; the 

 head, nape, back of the neck, and the upper part of the 

 back, ash brown, the latter-named part with lighter-co- 

 loured edges ; inner portion of the wings, scapulars, and 

 tertials lead grey, with broad and lighter grey-coloured 

 margins ; the point of the wing, both sets of upper wing- 

 coverts, and all the feathers on the primary portion of the 

 wing, except the quill-feathers beyond the first three, very 

 light bluish-grey ; the three outer quill -feathers also light 

 grey ; the rest dark lead grey, all with white shafts ; the 

 lower part of the back and the rump uniform light bluish- 

 grey ; upper tail-coverts white ; tail-feathers lead grey, 

 tipped with white ; chin, neck in front, and the breast, of 

 a lighter grey colour than the back of the neck ; the belly, 

 and all the under surface of the body, white; sides, flanks, 

 and thighs, barred with ash colour and greyish white ; 

 under tail-coverts, and the under surface of the tail-fea- 

 thers, white ; legs, toes, and membranes, dull flesh colour ; 

 the claws black. 



The whole length of an adult male is thirty-five inches ; 

 the wing, from the carpal joint to the end of the second 

 quill-feather, which is the longest, seventeen inches and a 

 half; the wings when closed scarcely reaching to the end 

 of the tail. Both males and females have a hard callous 

 knob at the point of the wing, which varies in size in the 

 different species of Geese. The males in this genus are 

 larger than the females. An adult female measured thirty 

 inches in the whole length, and sixteen inches in the wing. 

 Mr. Bartlett, who has paid great attention to the plumage 

 of these birds, says, the young of this species are darker 

 than the adults, but the grey colour of the shoulders and 

 rump, the form of the bill, and the colour of the legs and 

 feet, will always distinguish them from the young of any 

 of the other species. 



