ANSERINE. 
12.  B.  canadensis  (Linn.)  PI.  enl.  346.,  Wils.  Amer.  Orn.  pi.  67. 
f.  4. 
13.  B.  leucopareia  Brandt,  Desc.  et  Icones  Faun.  Ross.  I.  t. — 
Anser  canadensis  Pall. 
14.  B.  Hutchinsii  (Richards.  &  Swains.)  Faun.  Bor.  Amer.  70. 
15.  B.  indica  (Gmel.)  Gould  Cent,  of  Birds,  pi.  80.  —  Anser 
undulatus  Bonn. 
16.  B.  ?  grandis  (Gmel.). 
Nettapus  Brandt* 
Bill  small,  more  elevated  at  the  base  than  broad,  the  culmen  gradually  sloping  to  the  tip,  which  is 
armed  with  a  large  nail ;  the  lamellae  not  exposed,  but  short  and  widely  set  ;  the  nostrils  somewhat 
basal,  placed  near  the  culmen,  with  the  opening  rounded.  Wings  moderate,  pointed,  and  the  first  two 
quills  the  longest.  Tail  short  and  rounded.  Tarsi  shorter  than  the  middle  toe.  Toes  long  and 
united  by  a  full  web,  the  lateral  ones  unequal,  and  the  hind  toe  very  short  and  more  or  less  lobed  ;  the 
claws  short  and  curved. 
The  species  of  this  genus  are  found  in  the  continental  part  of  India,  in  Australia,  and  Africa,  where  they  inhabit  the 
lakes,  estuaries,  and  rivers.  "  It  is  remarkable,"  Mr.  Blyth  observes,  "  that  the  Indian  species  seems  totally  incapable 
of  standing  or  walking  upon  the  ground,  but  invariably  flutters  along  it  in  a  strange  scuffling  manner,  bike  a  wounded 
bird.  They  always  descend  into  the  water,  never  alighting  on  the  ground  of  their  own  accord."  Col.  Sykes  remarks : 
"  These  birds  when  wounded  dive,  and,  on  returning  to  the  surface,  show  only  the  bill  above  water,  keeping  the  body 
below  at  pleasure."  He  further  says  that  vegetable  matter  and  gravel  were  found  in  the  stomach.  The  nest  of  the 
Australian  species  is  described  by  Mr.  Gould  as  being  "  built  up  in  the  grass,  about  a  foot  above  the  surface  of  the 
water,  the  bottom  of  the  nest  resting  on  its  surface ;  it  was  composed  of  long  dried  grasses,  slightly  hollowed  for  the 
reception  of  the  eggs,"  which  are  six  in  number. 
1.  N.  coromandelianus  (Gmel.)  Gould,  PI.  enl.  949,  950. —        2.  N.  pulchellus  Gould,  Proc.  Z.  S.  1841.  89.,  B.  of  Austr.  pi. 
Bernicla  Girra  Gray,  111.  Ind.  Zool.  pi.  68. ;  N.  affinis  Jerd.  ;  N.         3.  N.  auritus  (Bodd.)  PI.  enl.  770.  —  Anas  madagascariensis 
albipennis  Gould,  B.  of  Austr.  pi.  Gmel. 
*  Established  by  M.Brandt  (Desc.  et  Icon.  6$c.)  in  1836.  In  1838,  Mr.  Eyton  adopted  the  manuscript  name  of  Cheniscus  from 
Brookes.  Mr.  Swainson's  name  of  Anserella  (1837)  is  supposed  to  be  founded  on  a  species  of  this  genus,  for  which  I  had  in  1840  proposed 
the  name  of  Microcygna. 
November,  1844. 
