194 ANATID^E. 



order. When resting for the night, these birds, not- 

 withstanding their excessive caution, do not, like other 

 wary waterfowl, resort to the open waters of the lakes, 

 but roost in the middle of the swamps and marshes in 

 which they have fed during the day. 



In form and appearance the Canada goose is widely 

 different from that universally distributed domestic bird, 

 the ungainly figure and attitudes of which are so apt to 

 suggest themselves to the mind as types of the genus. 

 There is a great difference among them in colour and 

 size, but the Canada goose is always a larger and heavier 

 bird than the other; its neck is much more slender, the 

 form altogether is more symmetrical, and the harmony 

 of colour more pleasing to the eye than that of any other 

 of its kind. 



The head arid neck, as well as the bill, are black, with 

 a remarkable white patch on each cheek, meeting under 

 the chin. The back and wing-coverts are brown, mar- 

 gined with white; the wings and tail black; the lower 

 part of the neck white ; and the breast and belly light 

 brown. The rest of the under parts are of a greyish 

 white, the legs and feet being nearly black. 



The female, which is of precisely similar plumage, 

 generally makes her nest on the ground, and lays from 

 six to eight eggs, of a pale green. Though the male 

 bird does not assist in the task of incubation, he care- 



