GOOSANDER. 487 



strongly toothed on both mandibles, the upper mandible with 

 two corresponding rows of fine teeth within, the lower divided 

 to the nail, and connected by a thin elastic membrane, which 

 admits of considerable expansion, to facilitate the passage of 

 fish ; nostrils, sub-ovate, broader on the hind part ; the bill is 

 black above and below, its sides crimson ; the tongue is long, 

 pointed, furnished with a double row of papillae running along 

 the middle, and has a hairy border ; irides, golden ; the front- 

 let, lores, area of the eyes, and throat, jet black ; head, crested, 

 tumid, and of a beautiful glossy bottle-green colour, extending 

 nearly half-way down the neck, the remainder of which, with 

 the exterior part of the scapulars, the lesser coverts, the greater 

 part of the secondaries, the tertials and lining of the wings, 

 white, delicately tinged with cream colour ; the breast and 

 whole lower parts are of a rich cream colour ; the upper part 

 of the back and the interior scapulars, a fine glossy black ; 

 the primaries and exterior part of the secondaries, with their 

 coverts, are brownish black ; the lower part of nearly all the 

 coverts of the secondaries, white, the upper part, black, form- 

 ing a bar across the wing ; the shoulder of the wing is brownish 

 ash, the feathers tipt with black ; the middle and lower parts 

 of the back and tail-coverts, ash, the plumage centred with 

 brown ; tail, brownish ash, rounded, composed of eighteen 

 feathers, and extends about three inches beyond the wings ; 

 the flanks are marked with waving, finely-dotted lines of ash 

 on a white ground ; tertials on the outer vanes, edged with 

 black ; the legs and feet are of a rich orange ; toes, long, 

 middle one somewhat the longest ; claws, flesh-coloured. The 

 whole plumage is of a silky softness, particularly that of the 

 head and neck, which feels like the most delicate velvet. 



Naturalists represent the feet and legs of this species as of 

 the colour of red sealing-wax. This is an error which arose 

 from the circumstance of their having seen their specimens 

 some time after they had been killed. When the bird is alive, 

 these parts are of a beautiful orange, which changes after 

 death to the colour they mention. 



