PALMIPEDES. 
263 
are more or less common in Britain during the winter, the three first of which have been much confused. The 
colour of all is nearly that of a coloured domestic Goose. The Grey-lag Goose (A. cinereus), at once distinguished 
by the pale grey colour of its rump, which in all the others is dark blackish-brown. The bill also is larger and 
broader, with more strongly marked lamellae : the hue of it reddish flesh-colour, tinged with yellowish in summer, 
with always a white terminal nail to the upper mandible, except when very young ; and the legs flesh-coloured. 
This, which is obviously the origin of the common tame Goose, is at present much the rarest in the British Isles, 
though it formerly bred abundantly in the fenny counties. The common statement that the male of the tame 
Goose invariably becomes white in the course of a few years, is untrue. The most nearly allied to it is the 
White-fronted Goose (A. albifrons), considerably smaller, with always a white forehead in the adult, and ordinarily 
more or less black on the under-parts, appearing in irregular patches ; traces of which may likewise be sometimes 
found in the preceding species : its legs are orange-yellow, and bill flesh-coloured, with a white nail except when 
very young. This species is very common in winter, but has not hitherto been known to breed here. A still 
more abundant species is the Bean Goose {A. segetum), nearly as large as the first, with orange legs, and narrower 
bill, generally blackish, with an orange band across it, and a black nail : the latter is very rarely white in aged 
ijj specimens, which often have the bill nearly wholly yellow, but never quite. The Bean Goose breeds sparingly in 
Sutherland, and some parts of Ireland. Lastly, the Pink-footed Goose {A. hrachgi-ynchns, Baillon ; A. phoeni- 
copus, Bartl.) is distinguished from the last by its inferior size, and pinkish-red legs, together with its shorter 
bill, the similar cross-band of which is permanently of a reddish-colour. It is not very common, though 
I more so than the first, and combines the general form of the Bean Goose with the legs of the Grey-lag.] 
j The Barnacles — 
li Are distinguished from ordinary Geese by a shorter and more slender hill, the edges of which conceal 
■ the extremities of the laminae, [though there is no drawing the line of separation, and the present 
; I division is generally rejected as superfluous. 
Two are common in Britain, and found on both sides of the Atlantic, each retiring very far north to breed, more 
I particularly the second species. The Barnacle Goose (A. leucopsis) ; much smaller than any of the preceding, 
; with a grey mantle, the feathers broadly edged with black, a black neck, and white visage : and the Brent Goose 
ji {A. bernicla), still less, and nearly all black above, with a white spot on each side of the middle of its neck. This 
j| bird is one of the finest for the table of the whole tribe. A third (A. ruficollis), common on the shores of the 
ji Caspian, and as far eastward as Lake Baikal, occurs as a rare occasional straggler, and has the smallest bill 
ij of any]. 
i The Egyptian Goose, or Bargander, (An. <egyptiaca, Gm.), revered by the ancient Egyptians for the affection 
it evinces for its young, and remarkable for its display of colours, and for the small spur on the bend of its 
wing, also pertains to this subgenus : it is sometimes domesticated, but always retains a propensity to return 
I to the wdld state. [This species very properly constitutes the division Chenelopex, Swainson, and is a modifica- 
! tion of the distinct Shieldrake group, all of which belong to the higher division of Geese, and not to the Ducks, 
i There is a single inflated labyrinth at the bottom of its trachea, which, with its plumage, and the character of the 
^ down of the young, helps to intimate its real affinities*.] 
The Cereopsis {Cereopsis, Latham) — 
; Is a New Holland bird, nearly related to the Barnacles, [so far as the beak alone would indicate,] but 
I with a still smaller bill, the membrane of which is much broader, and extends a little upon the forehead, 
i [This species seldom, if ever, enters the water, and has long legs, which are bare above the joint.] 
We only know one, the Grey Cereopsis (C. cinereus, Latham), of a grey colour, with black spots, and as large as 
j a tame Goose. [It breeds freely in this country, and possesses a tracheal labyrinth]. 
i The Ducks, properly so called, {Anas, Meyer), — 
Have the bill broader than high at its base, and wider at the end than towards the head ; the nostrils 
also more approximated towards its back and base. The shortness and backward position of their legs 
render their gait upon land more difficult than in the Geese ; and they have also a shorter neck, and 
their trachea is inflated at its bifurcation into cartilaginous labyrinths, of which the left is generally the 
larger. [They subsist to a greater or less extent on animal diet, and the sexes are always different in 
colouring, the charge of the young being entirely left to the female, and the male approximating to the 
female colouring immediately after the breeding season.] 
The species of the first division, or those in which the hind toe is bordered by a membrane, have a 
larger head, a shorter neck, the feet placed further backward, smaller wings, a more rigid tail, the tarsi 
more compressed, and the toes longer, with more complete webs. They walk with more difficulty, and 
] live almost exclusively on animal food, diving very often. [The plumage is generally moulted once 
! * Tlie MaselUtnim ami antarctica, also, referred by the Author | figured by M. Eyton. The truth is, that these trivial modifications of 
I to his division of Barnacles, likewise appertain to the Shieldrake the bill are of subordinate value, in the present extensive series, 
j group, as shown by their anatomy: their tracheal labyrinths are 1 — Ed. 
