ANATIBM — ANSERINE : GEESE. 



683 



to the hind edge of the Bostril more than thence to the end of the hill. Tail-feathers normally 

 20. Length under 5 feet ; extent C or 7 feet ; wing under 2 feet ; tail 7 or 8 iuclies. Bill about 

 4.00 along culmen ; 

 from eye to tip of bill un- 

 der 5.00; tarsus 4.00; 

 middle toe and claw 

 5.50. Young smaller; 

 plumage ashy - gray, 

 with reddish - brown 

 wash on head and upper 

 neck ; bill in part iiesh- 

 colored, the lores plii- 

 m ulose ; feet yelh >wish 

 flesh-color. N. Am. at 

 large, U. S. in winter 

 and during the migra- 

 tion ; the usual species 

 along the Atlantic coast, 

 and more numerous on 

 either coast than in in- 

 terior U. S. ; rare or 

 casual, however, in 



New England and eastward. Breeds only in the high north. Eggs 2-5, from 4.00 X 2.25 

 to 4.50 X 2.50, with rough dull white shell, with more or less brownish discoloration. 



690. C. mu'sicus. (Grr. /lova-iKos, mmisilcos, Lat. musicus, musical.) Whooping Swan. Similar 

 to C. columh'kmus , and having the same shape of the bill, but instead of a small yellow spot 

 behind the nostrils there is a great yellow blotch, occupying one half or more of the bill and 

 extending beyond the nostrils. Only N. Am. as occurring in Greenland : Eeinh., Ibis, 1861, 

 p. 13 of the reprint; Freke, Zool., v, 1881, p. 372. 



691. [C. be'wicki. (To Thos. B(nvick.) Bewick's Swan. A European species, incorrectly 

 attributed to N. A. in the 2(1 ed. of the Check List, which see, p. 111. J 



"Fro. 472, — Wliistling Swan. (Prom Lewi? 



66. Subfamily ANSERIN>E: Geese. 



Lores completehj feathered ; iarsi entirely 

 reticidate; hind toe simple. Neck in length 

 between that of swans and of ducks ; cervical 

 vertebrte about Ifi ; body elevated and not so 

 much flattened as in the ducks ; legs relatively 

 longer ; tarsus generally exceeding, or at least 

 not shorter than, the middle toe; hill generally 

 rather short, high and compressed at base, and 

 tapering to tip, which is less widened and flat- 

 tened than is usual among ducks and almost 

 wholly occupied hy the broad nail. The 

 species as a rule are more terrestrial, and walk 

 Fig. 473. — Common (a) and Blacli (fc) Brant. better, than ducks ; they are generally herbiv- 



orous, although several maritime species (Philacte, and an allied South American group) are 

 animal-feeders, and their flesh is rank. Both sexes attend to the young. A notable trait, 

 shared hy the swans, is their mode of resenting intrusion by hissing with outstretched neck. 



