334 ZOOLOGY. 



Sub-fam. 1. Phcenicopterince, or Flamingoes. Bill large, compressed, 

 suddenly bent downwards in the middle ; tarsi very long, slender ; toes 

 short and webbed. Size large ; colors usually scarlet and white. 



These singular birds are natives of the warmer parts of the world. They 

 are usually observed on the sea shore or in the salt marshes, in flocks of 

 many individuals, one of which, it is said, acts as sentinel while the others 

 are feeding or resting. They are very shy birds, and have very handsome 

 scarlet and white plumage. The unusual form of the bill enables these 

 birds to search for small shell-fish and other animals in the sands or marshes 

 by a process resembling Aoeiw^. The scarlet flamingo, P/icBnicopterus Tuher 

 {pi. Q3,fg. 11), is an American species, common on the banks and at the 

 mouths of the great rivers of South America, and which occasionally visits 

 Florida. There are four other species. 



Sub-fam. 2. AnserincB, or Geese. Bill about as long as the head, sloping 

 to the tip, which has a large, broad nail, compressed, and with the marginal 

 laminae apparent; wings long; tarsi short; toes short and strongly webbed. 

 Size large ; colors plain. 



There are about forty species of geese, which are natives of all parts of 

 the world. On the land they walk with facility, and are very buoyant and 

 graceful on the surface of the water. They possess great power and rapidity 

 of flight, and in their migrations mostly move in two lines meeting in a 

 point anteriorly, which is supposed to be always occupied by an experi- 

 enced leader. 



The domestic goose is principally derived from the grey goose [Anser 

 ferus), an European species, which appears formerly to have been abundant 

 throughout that continent, but is now much more rare. The white-fronted 

 goose {A. albifrons) is also probably the ancestor of some of the varieties 

 of the domesticated bird. It is an inhabitant of both Europe and America, 

 and breeds in the north of both continents. These two species resemble, 

 to a greater or less extent, in appearance and habits the geese of the 

 farm-yard ; but many other species have been tamed in different countries, 

 and in fact nearly all the geese appear to be capable of domestication. 

 The other European species are, the bean goose, A. segetum {pi. 92, fg. 7), 

 the pink-footed goose {A. brachyrhynchus), the barnacle goose {A. leucopsis), 

 so called from the ridiculous idea which formerly prevailed, that it was 

 hatched from a shell called the barnacle, the red-breasted goose {A. ruji- 

 collis), the Egyptian goose {A. cegyptiaca), and some others. 



The most common wild goose of the United States is the Canada goose 

 {Anser canadensis), which migrates northwards in the spring and returns in 

 autumn, during both of which journeys it attracts great attention on 

 account of its peculiarly formed flocks when flying, and its loud cries. 

 "The flight of the wild goose," says Wilson, "is heavy and laborious, 

 generally in a straight line or in two lines approximating to a point (like 

 the letter V) ; in both cases the van is led by an old gander, who every now 

 and then pipes his well known honk, as if to ask how they come on, and 

 the honk of ' all's well' is generally returned by some of the party. Their 

 course is in a straight line, with the exception of the undulations of their 



