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Genus CHEN. 



Anser apud Brisson, Orn. vi. p. 288 (1760). 



Anas apud Forster, Phil. Trans, lxii. p. 413 (1772). 



Chen, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 563. 



Tadorna apud C. L. Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. p. 854 (1831). 



Chenalopex apud L. Brehm, Naumannia, 1855, p. 297. 



The species included in this genus, three in number, are inhabitants of the extreme north, chiefly 

 in the Nearctic Eegion ; but two species occur also in the Palsearctic Begion — one, Chen albatus, 

 as a rare straggler, and the other, Chen hyperboreus, more frequently in the north-eastern portion 

 of that region. The third species, Chen ccerulescens, is only found in North America. 



In general habits, note, and in choice of habitat these Geese do not differ much from the 

 common Wild Goose ; but they are said to be rather more clumsy when on land. They feed on 

 grasses, berries, and to some extent also on insects. Their flight is strong and steady ; and they 

 usually fly very high when migrating. They are mostly very silent birds, and are said to utter 

 their cry only when pursued and in extreme fear. They breed in the Arctic regions, placing 

 their nest on the ground like their allies, and deposit several yellowish-white eggs. 



Chen hyperboreus, the type of the genus, has the bill much as in Anser ; wings long, full, 

 the second longest ; tail short, rounded ; legs moderate ; tibia feathered to the j oint ; tarsus 

 moderately long, reticulate ; toes rather long, connected by a membrane ; claws moderately long, 

 oval, obtuse ; plumage full, firm, the feathers on the neck rather narrow, inclined to form 

 furrows, but not conspicuously ridged as in Anser; plumage in the adult bird pure white, 

 except the quills, which are blackish. 



The Egyptian Fox Goose, Chenalopex cegyptiaca, the type of the genus Chenalopex, has been 

 included in the European list ; but as it is essentially an African bird and unlikely to have 

 straggled within our limits in a wild state, and as, moreover, these Geese are frequently kept in 

 a half-tame state on ornamental waters, it appears to me unadvisable to include it. 



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