334 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



feathers, which are black, shafted with white, and white at the 

 root; the coverts of these last, and also the bastard wing, are 

 sometimes of a pale ash color ; the legs and feet of the same pur- 

 plish carmine as the bill ; iris dark hazel ; the tail is rounded, and 

 consists of sixteen feathers ; that and the wings when shut nearly 

 of a length." 



Wilson remarks that "the bill of this bird is singularly curious: 

 the edges of the upper and lower gibbosities have each twenty- 

 three indentations or strong teeth on each side; the inside or 

 concavity of the upper mandible has also seven lateral rows of 

 strong projecting teeth; and the tongue, which is horny at the 

 extremity, is armed on each side with thirteen long and sharp bony 

 teeth, placed like those of a saw, with their points directed back- 

 wards ; the tongue turned up, and viewed on its lower side, looks 

 very much like a human finger with its nail. This conformation 

 of the mandibles, exposing two rows of strong teeth, has probably 

 given rise to the epithet 'laughing,' bestowed on one of its varie- 

 ties, though it might with as much propriety have been named the 

 grinning goose." 



