282 ANATID^, GEESE. GEN. 248. 



bird with spurs on the wings and a tubercle at the base of the bill ; the Asiatic 

 Cynopsis cygnoides, frequently domesticated, a true goose with a swan-like aspect ; 

 the Egyptian goose, Chenalopex cegyptiaca. The geese appear to pass directly into 

 the ducks through the rather large shieldrake group, the species of which resemble 

 the latter in many external features, but are more essentially like geese. Charac- 

 teristic examples of this group are the Eiu'opean Tadorna vulpanser and Casarca 

 rutila; there are several others in the southern hemisphere ; our long-legged 

 arboricole genus Dendrocygna belongs in the immediate vicinitj^, while the domes- 

 ticated musk duck, Cairina moschata, is not far removed. Through such forms 

 as these we are brought directly among the ducks proper. 



248. Genus ANSEE Linnaeus. 



*JK* Bill and feet light or bright colored ; plumage white, or much variegated. 



) i / f> American White-fronted Goose. Bill smooth ; the laminte modei-ately 

 exposed ; tail uormally of 16 feathers. Under parts white or gi'ay, exten- 

 sively blotched with black ; back dark gray, with joaler or brownish edgings 

 of the feathers ; upper tail coverts white ; head and neck grayish-brown, the 

 forehead conspicuously pure white (in the adult ; dark in some states) ; bill 

 pale lake; feet orange, with pale claws. Aljout 27 long; wing 16-18; tail 

 5-6 ; tarsus 2f-3 ; middle toe and claw about the same. North America ; 

 only differs from the European in an average longer bill (If— 2, instead of 

 14-11). Sw. andEiCH., Fn. B.-A. ii, 466; Nutt., ii, 346 ; Aud., vi, 209, 

 pi. 380 ; Bd., 761 ; A.frontalis^T>., 762 (young), albifrons var. gambelii. 

 '-1 1 ; 9 Blue Goose. With nearly the size, and exactly the form, of the next 



" species, but the plumage ashy, varied with dark brown, the head, upper 

 neck, tail coverts and most of the under parts white, the wing coverts silveiy- 

 ash. Questionably the young of the snow goose. Wii.s., viii, 89, pi. 69, f. 

 5; Cass., Proc. Phila. Acad. 1856, 12; Ell. pi. 43. . . c^rulescens. 

 Snoio Goose. Bill smooth ; the laminas very prominent, owing to ai'ching 

 of the edges of the bill. Adult plumage pure white, but in most sjjecimens 

 the head washed with rusty-red ; primaries broadly black-tipped ; bill 

 lake-red with white nail; feet the same, with dark claws. "Young, dull 

 bluish or pale lead colored on the head and upper parts of the body " ( Cassin) . 

 Length about 30; wing 17-19; tail 5^-6^; bill 2J ; tarsus SJ. North 

 America; U. S. in winter; extremely abundant in the West, much less so 

 in the East. Wils., viii, 76, pi. 68, f. 5; Sw. and Eich., Fn. B.-A. ii, 

 467 ; Nutt., ii, 344 ; Aud., vi, 212, pi. 381 ; Bd., 760. . hypeeboeeus. 

 (?-' Var. albatus. Lesser Snoio Goose. Smaller ; " length about 25 inches ; wing 

 15^ ; tail 5f ; bill 2; tarsus 3." Western N. Am. Cass., Proc. Phila. Acad. 

 1856, 41 ; 18C1, 73 ; Bd., 760, 925 ; Elliot, pi. 42. 



Jioss' Goose. Bill studded at the base with numerous elevated papilke. 

 Color white, with black-tipped quills, exactly as in the snow goose, but less 

 than 24 long; wing 14-15 ; tail 5 ; bill Ii ; tarsus 2J. Arctic regions (U. S. 

 in winter?). "Horned Wavey" of Hearne, Journ. 442 ; A. i-ossii Bd. ; Cass., 

 Proc. Phila. Acad. 1861, 73; Uxanthevio])^ rossii 'Elliot, i^\. 44. kossii. 



.,4 



Ii 



