NATATORES. ANSER. 259 
lower mandibles, which are distinct and horny, orbiculate 
and convex ; that of the upper mandible having the tip de- 
flected, and covering the lower one. Lower mandible also 
narrower than the upper. 'Tomia laminato-dentated ; the 
lamella of the upper mandible exposed, those of the lower 
mandible covered by the projection of the upper one. 
Nostrils lateral, placed rather behind the middle of the 
bill, and pierced in the lower and front part of the membrane 
that covers the nasal furrow. Tongue broad, fleshy, and 
fimbriated. 
Wings long, ample, tuberculated. 
Legs placed nearly under the centre of the body ; the ti- 
bia clothed nearly to the tarsal jomt. Feet four-toed ; three 
before and one behind; the front toes palmated, the hind 
one free, and articulated upon the tarsus, and scarcely touch- 
ing the ground with its tip. Middle toe the longest. Nails 
falcate, and having their inner edges dilated. 
Although Lrnnzus combined the whole of the Anatide, 
with the exception of the genus Mergus, under one generic 
head, the elder naturalists had always separated the Geese 
(or genus Anser) from the true Ducks, as presenting dis- 
tinct and peculiar characters, not only in form, but in ha- 
bits. The same has also been the prevalent opinion amongst 
subsequent authors; and we find the genus Anser adopted 
by Inticrer, BecustTetn, Cuvier, and other continental or- 
nithologists, as well as by Firemine, Vicors, and most of 
the distinguished writers on this subject in our own coun- 
try. The Bernicles have, by Mr StEeruens, in the twelfth 
volume of Shaw’s General Zoology, been separated from the 
rest, and described under the generic title of Bernicla, an 
arrangement that for the present I decline following, as I 
cannot, after the most minute investigation into the charac- 
ters of the species, fix upon any one of sufficient importance 
to warrant a separation from the genus Anser, as above cha- 
racterized. The genus, therefore, as now established, will 
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