WILD GOOSE, GANNET, FLYCATCHER. 121 



WHITE-FRONTED WILD GOOSE : 



OR LAUGHING GOOSE. 



This species measures two feet four inches in length, 

 and four feet six inches in the extended wings, and weighs 

 about five pounds. The bill is thick at the base, of a 

 yellowish red colour; the nail white : from the base of the 

 bill and corners of the mouth, a white patch is extended 

 over the forehead , the rest of the head, neck, and upper 

 parts of the plumage are dark brown : the primary and 

 secondary quills are of the same colour, but much darker ; 

 and the wing coverts are tinged with ash : the breast and 

 belly are dirty white, spotted with dusky ; the tail is of a 

 hoary ash-coloured brown, and surrounded, like the Lag 

 Goose's, with a white ring at the base : the legs yellow. 



THE GANNET, OR SOLAND GOOSE. 



This bird is of the size of the tame goose, but its wings 

 are much longer. The bill is six inches long, inclines, 

 down at the point, and the sides are irregularly jagged, in 

 order to effect a firmer possession of its prey. From the 

 corner of the mouth proceeds a narrow slip of black bare 

 skin, extending to the hind part of the head, and beneath 

 this is a dilatable pouch, like that of the pelican, capable 

 of containing five or six entire herrings, which, in the 

 breeding season, it carries at once to its mate, or its yotmg. 

 The colour is chiefly white. These birds are extremely 

 numerous in some of the Hebrides, the Skelig islands in 

 Ireland, and the Ferro, between Scotland and Norway. 

 But it is in the Bass island, in the Frith of Forth, that they 

 are seen in the greatest numbers. 



FLYCATCHERS. 



The birds of this genus are among the most beautiful of 

 their class ; their name is derived from the expertness with 

 which they catch the flying insects which form their food : 



