316 BIRDS. PALMIPEDES. 



of this genus for eight days successively, migrating to the sea in search of a warmer 

 latitude. Their numbers, he tells us, exceeded those of the army of Xerxes. The 

 larvas of the common gnat, an insect which swarms in countless myriads in the 

 moist and woody districts, during the short summer of these northern regions, supply 

 whole legions of web-footed fowls with a favourite food. 



1. GEESE. Bill shorter than the head, a little conical, with conical 

 dentations on the margins : neck of medium length. 



A. hypcrborea, Gmel. Blue-winged Goose. Forehead much elevated, 

 yellowish ; head, neck, and body white ; quills white the half of 

 their length, the rest black ; upper mandible red ; lateral portion 

 of the bill cut on each side by longitudinal channels and serratures. 

 2 feet 5 or 6 inches long. Arctic Regions. Edrv. Glean, pi. 152. 



A. anser, Lath. The Wild Goose. Plumage cinereous above ; pale 

 beneath ; the folded wings do not reach to the extremity of the 

 tail; bill robust, thick, and of an uniform orange-yellow. 2 

 feet 8 or 10 inches long. Inhabits the eastern and central parts 

 of Europe. B. Shaw, xii. pi. 41. 



At the time of their migrations in Autumn, flocks of this species, consisting of 

 from fifty to a hundred individuals, are often seen flying at very great heights, and 

 their cry may be frequently heard when they are too elevated to be visible. On the 

 ground they always arrange themselves in a line ; and they seem to descend ra- 

 ther for rest than refreshment. Their flight is conducted with great regularity, 

 for they always proceed either in a line abreast, or in two lines, joining in an an- 

 gle at the middle, like the letter V. In this order they generally take the lead by 

 turns, the foremost falling back in the rear, when tired with cleaving the air, and 

 the next in succession occupying its place. In these lofty flights they are seldom 

 within reach of a fowling piece ; and, even when they move in a lower track, they 

 file so equally, that one discharge rarely kills more than a single bird. Their food 

 consists of aquatic vegetables and all kinds of grain. Domesticated breeds of 

 this species are reared in most countries ; and in Britain great numbers are kept 

 in the fens of Lincolnshire, several persons there having as many as a thousand 

 breeders. They are stripped once a-year for their quills, and no fewer than five 

 times for the feathers. The first plucking for both commences about Lady-day, 

 and the other four are between that and Michaelmas. It is alleged that, in ge- 

 neral, the birds do not materially suffer from these operations, except cold weather 

 happens to set in, when numbers of them die. The old ones submit quietly to be 

 plucked, but the young ones are very noisy and unruly. These geese breed in general 

 only once a-year, but, if well kept, sometimes twice. During their sitting, each has 

 a space allotted to it, in rows of wicker pens placed one above another. The goose 

 lives to a great age, to eighty years it is said, or even to a hundred. 



A. segetum, Gmel. The Bean Goose. Plumage ashy-brown above, 

 whitish beneath ; scapulars and wing-coverts margined with whit- 

 ish ; folded wings extending beyond the extremity of the tail ; 

 bill long, depressed, and of a dusky orange hue. 2J feet long. 

 Inhabits Arctic Regions. B. Lewin's Brit. Birds, vi. pi. 239. 



A. albifrons, Lin. White- Fronted Goose. Plumage above brown 

 ash-coloured; quills black ; secondaries tipped with white; breast 

 and belly whitish, varied with black feathers ; a large white spot 

 on the forehead. 27 inches long. Inhabits Arctic Regions. B. 

 Don. Brit. Birds, v. pi. 102. 



A. leucopsis, Tern. (Anas erythropus, Lin.) Bernacle Goose. Plu- 

 mage cinereous, with black and white undulations above ; neck, 

 top of the breast, tail, and quills black ; face and belly white, bill, 



