684 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— LAMELLIB08TBES —AN SEBES. 



and striking with the wings. With some exceptions the plumage is not so bright and variegated 

 as that of ducks, and the speculum is wanting ; there is only an annual moult, and no seasonal 

 change of plumage ; the sexes are generally alike. Most of the geese fall in or very near the 

 genera Anser and Bernida, and are modelled in the likeness of the domestic breeds. The more 

 notable exotic forms are : the Australian Anseranas melandleuca and Cereopsis novee-hoUandice, 

 the former having the feet little more than semipalmate, the latter scarcely aquatic, with very 

 long legs, much bare above the sufirago, and the bill small, very membranous ; the African 

 Plectropterus gambensis, a purplish-black bird with spurs on the wings and a tubercle at the 

 base of the bill ; the Asiatic Cynopsis eygndides, frequently domestioafed, 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. Characteristic exam- 

 ples of this group are the European Tadorna vulpcmser and Casa/rca rutila; there are several 

 others in the southern hemisphere; our long-legged arboricole genus Dendrocygna belongs 

 in the immediate vicinity, while the domesticated musk duck, Gairma moschata, is not far 

 removed. Through such forms as these we are brought directly among the ducks proper. 



Analysis of Genera. 



Bill pink ; feet yellow ; under parte extensively black. Bill tapering, not longer than head. Lamellae 



moderately exposed Anser 279 



Bill and feet pink. Plumage white, or much varied. Bill tapering, not longer than head. liamellse 



completely exposed Chen 280 



Bill and feet black ; head and neck black, with white spaces Bill tapering, shorter than head. Lamellse 



hidden £emicla 282 



Bill and feet light; plumage bluish, with black crescents. Bill tapering, not longer than head. Lamellse 



partly exposed Philacte 281 



Bill and feet various; plumage much variegated. Bill scarcely tapering, longer than head Dendrocygna 283 

 Obs. — These characters only indicate the N. Am. species. 



879. AN'SEB. (Lat. anser, a goose.) Gray Geese. Bill shorter or not longer than head, 

 very stout, tapering to obtuse tip, at base rather higher than broad. Lateral lamellse some- 

 what exposed by bevelling of tomia. Nostrils in basal half of bill, their anterior edge only 

 reaching its middle. Tibise naked below. Tarsus rather shorter than middle toe and claw, 

 entirely reticulate. Anterior toes full-webbed, oa top reticulate at base, then scutellate. 

 Hind toe moderate, reaching the ground. Tail of 16-(- feathers. Color not white, nor 

 with black head, neck, bill, or feet ; the bill pink, the feet yellow (in our species). 



Analysis of Varieties. 



Bill small ; culmen 1.80-1.75 albifrons 692 



Bill large; culmen 1.75-2.00 gambeli 693 



693. A. al'bifrons. (Lat. aibus, white ; frons, forehead.) European White-pronted Goose. 

 The above is the slight character which appears to separate this from the next. Only N. Am. 

 as occurring in Greenland. 



693. A. a. gam/beli. (To Wm. Gambel.) AMERICAN White-fronted Goose. Speckle- 

 belly. Tail normally 16-feathered. Bill smooth ; the laminse moderately exposed. Adult ^ 

 9 : Bill pink, pale lake or carmine, the nails white. Feet yellow. Eyes brown. Claws 

 white. A white band along base of upper mandible, bordered behind by blackish ; upper tail- 

 coverts white. Under parts whitish, the breast and belly more or less extensively patched or 

 blotched with black, in high plumage perhaps mostly black, the sides of the rump, and the 

 crissum, white. Head and neck dark grayish-brown, paler on the lower neck in front, where 

 passing into the whitish black-blotched breast. Back dark ashy-gray, the feathers anteriorly 

 tipped with brown, farther back with pale gray. Secondaries and ends of primaries dusky, 

 more ashy toward base, the primary coverts and outer webs of primaries ashy, the greater 

 coverts and secondaries bordered with whitish, the primaries and coverts edged and tipped 



