ANSERANAS MELANOLEUCA. 



(Fled or ^emi-i^almated Goose.) 



Male — Head, wings, middle of back, tail, and tMglis, bright greenish black ; the rest of tlie plumage white ; upper mandible enlarged into a 

 knob where it joins the head; the bill to a little beyond the nostrils, dark dull purplish flesh color— the extremity, blue; legs and feet, orange. 



The Female is not so bright in her plumage as the Male, being more of a brownish black tint, with much less bright reflections 

 of green. Her bill is also destitute of the excrescence. 



Length, 34 inches ; wing, 18 ; tail, 1\ ; bill, 3i ; tarsus, 3f ; middle toe, 5. 



This large and conspicuous species is found all throughout the interior of Australia, becoming more numerous to the north. 

 It pays irregular and by no means frequent visits to the coast, and has been shot in the neighborhood of Brisbane. Its usual and favorite 

 resort is fresh water rivers, and lagoons. Leichhardt found this species in great plenty all round the Grulf of Carpentaria, and being 

 excellent eating, it proved a valuable addition to his scanty supplies of food, when on his arduous journey to Port Essington. A fine 

 specimen will weigh from six to seven pounds. It is only an occasional visitant to some districts, an interval of many years elapsing before 

 it is again seen. The Darl'mc] Doums Gazette mentions one of these visits in March, 1865, in the following terms : " Wednesday evening, 

 " the 15th instant, Warwick was visited by large flocks of geese, which took to the river and the trees in the neighbourhood of the town. 

 " So stupid were they, or so unaccustomed to the effects of fire arms, that out of a flock of twenty-one which roosted in one locality, twenty 

 " fell before the guns of the sportsmen." The trachea is very long, measuring considerably more than a yard, and makes four convolutions 

 before entering the lungs. The webs of the feet are short — a modification necessary to its habits as a perching bird. The eggs are said to 

 be of a cream color. 



