THE CYGNOIDES. 239 



Descriptions. 



THE RUDDY GOOSE 



IS about the size of a mallard, and found in 

 Siberia, from whence it migrates into India; its 

 bill is black ; the neck of an iron colour, encir- 

 cled with a collar of black; the rest of the body 

 an obscure or dusky red, except the tail, which 

 is a greenish black. These birds frequently lay 

 in hollow trees, and the male and female sit by 

 turns; but all attempts to domesticate them have 

 proved ineffectual. Their voice is not unlike 

 the note of a clarinet. Their attachments are so 

 very strong, that if the male be killed, the female 

 will not quit the gunner till she has been two or 

 three times shot at. 



THE CYGNOIDES, 



AS forming a middle line between the swaa 

 and the goose, have been not improperly stiled 

 swan-geese. This species is the swan goose of 

 Kay, from Guinea, and is also often called the 

 Muscovy goose. They are frequent in Britain, 

 and unite so readily with the common goose that 

 their offspring will produce as certainly as if no 

 such intermixture had taken place. They walk 

 very erect, with the head much elevated; make 

 an extraordinary harsh screaming noise, which 

 they continue almost the whole day through, and 

 without the least provocation or disturbance. 



