Genus — ANSER ANAS. 
Ansebanas Lesson, Manuel d’Orn., Vol. II., p. 418, 
1828 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type A. semipahnata. 
Also spelt — ■ 
Anseranus Gray, List. Genera Birds, 1840, p. 72. 
Choristopus Eyton, Monogr. Anatid^, p. 8, 1838 . . Type A. semipahnata. 
Anseriform birds with very long bills, naked fore-head, conical apex to skull, 
head short, neck of medium length, long wings, medium tail, long stout legs, 
and long toes half-webbed. 
The bill is very long and fairly deep at base : the fore-head from behind 
the eyes is bare of feathers, and a conical ridge is developed on the top of the 
head which distinguishes this bird at sight. The nostrils are very small, 
situated about midway between base of culmen and tip ; placed high up 
and very close together on each side of obscurely marked culmen ridge. 
Obsolete lamellae are visible inside edges of upper mandible. The nail is 
very hard, and strongly marked off from rest of culmen, and overhangs 
the lower mandible in a sharp point. In the lower mandible the portion 
corresponding to the nail is similarly defined and of the same constitution, 
but somewhat convex. The rami, widely separated and parallel, enclose 
an unfeathered groove. On their edges obsolete lamellae may be observed. 
The culmen is longer than the head. 
The wing is long, with the first primary short and about equal to the 
seventh ; the second to fifth are of about the same length, the sixth slightly 
shorter. 
The tail, composed of twelve feathers, is square and is more than (\ne-third 
the length of the wing. 
The legs are very long and stout, a portion of the tibia being exposed ; 
the metatarsus is covered with small reticulate scales and is more than half 
the length of the tail. 
The toes are very long with the webs between extendmg only half their 
length, the middle toe without the claw being about half the length of the 
tail and not much shorter than the metatarsus ; the hind toe is not lobed 
and is very long and placed on the level of the anterior toes ; it is almost 
half the length of the middle toe. 
The claws are long. 
23 
