282 
POPULAR HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
on the part of the constructors. The nest was of enormous 
dimensions^ being five feet ten inches by four feet ten inches^ 
and its height was two feet. The eggs weighed eight ounces 
each. 
Among the geese somewhat allied to those found wild 
in this country, we may mention the Snow Goose [Chen Jiy- 
perborea), — a species particularly abundant during summer 
in the Arctic parts of North America, and found, but more 
sparingly, in Lapland and Russia. It gets its English name 
from the general colour of the plumage being snow-white 
in its adult state, with black quill-feathers. Wilson"^ re- 
marks that it visits the Delaware Eiver on its return from 
the north early in November, and that they feed on the roots 
of the reeds, tearing them up from the marshes like hogs. 
The singular structure of its bill enables it to graze on 
coarser and stronger plants than our geese. Wilson de- 
scribes the edges of it as having each twenty-three indenta- 
tions on each side ; the inside of the upper mandible has 
also seven lateral rows of strong projecting teeth ; and the 
tongue, which is horny at the extremity, is armed on each 
side with thirteen long, sharp, bony teeth, placed like those 
of a saw, with their points directed backwards. The Blue- 
* American Ornitliology, vol. iii. p. 171. 
