ANSER. 415 



lower mandible away from the commissure ; iris brown ; legs and 

 feet black. 



Length 60 ; tail 8 ; wing 25 ; tarsus 4'5 ; bill from gape 4. 



Distribution. The Whooper breeds in the extreme north of 

 Europe and Asia, and visits most parts of Europe and temperate 

 Asia in the winter. 



A single specimen of a Swan was obtained by Hodgson in the 

 Nepal Valley in January 1829. The skin was lost ; but a drawing 

 was kept, and also the skull and a foot ; the latter two are now in 

 the British Museum, and the drawing in the Library of the Zoo- 

 logical Society. By G-. E. Gray and Brooks the species was recog- 

 nized as C.ferus (musicus)', but Hume identified the figure with the 

 smaller species C. lewicki on account of the coloration of the bill. I 

 have examined all the evidence, and whilst the drawing, on which 

 no dimensions are noted, appears to me less carefully drawn than 

 most of Hodgson's figures, and to leave some doubt as to which 

 species is represented, the skull and feet, which Mr. Grant has 

 been so good as to compare with me, are much too large for 

 C. beivicki, and undoubtedly belonged to C. musicus. 



Subfamily ANSERINE. 



The Geese live more on land and less on water than the 

 remainder of the family do ; they generally feed on grass or other 

 green vegetable food ; some forms, however, feed on marine plants. 

 They are heavily built birds, but good walkers, having the legs 

 more in the middle of the body than Ducks have. The sexes are 

 alike, or nearly so, and there appears to be only one moult of all 

 the feathers, which takes place soon after the young are hatched. 

 The plumage is dull, and there is no coloured speculum on the 

 wing-secondaries. The legs are strong, the tarsus considerably 

 longer than the bill and reticulated throughout. 



The most important anatomical peculiarity is the absence of the 

 bony bulb (labyrinth or bulba ossea) that is found at the lower end 

 of the trachea in the males of nearly all Anatince and Mergince. 



The Anserince comprise six genera, chiefly of Boreal distribu- 

 tion ; only one is known to occur in India. 



Genus ANSER, Brisson, 1760. 



Bill short and high at the base, subconical ; the nostrils nearly 

 halfway to the tip, a distinct nail-like dertrum at the end ; wings 

 ample ; tail short, rounded, of 16 or 18 feathers ; legs of moderate 

 length, strong, placed well forward and adapted for walking. 



Geese both swim and walk well. They are generally found 

 in flocks, which fly with much speed in long V-shaped lines, and 

 they utter a peculiar cackling call that can be heard a long distance 

 off. All the species are migratory. They make nests of grass, &c., 



