Genus— 0 HE:nISCUS. 
Cheniscus Lyton, Monogr. Anatid.88, p. 15, 1838 . . Type C. cormnandelianus. 
Microcygna Gray, List Genera Birds, p. 73, 1840. . Type C. cormnandelianus. 
Anserella Swainson, Classif. Birds, Vol. II., p. 189, 
1837, nom. nud. ; Gray, Handl. Gen. Sp. Birds, 
pt. ni., p. 77, 1871 . , . . . , . . T3rpe C. coromandelianus. 
Very small Anserine birds with short deep bills, long wings, medium 
tail, short legs, and long toes. 
The bill is shorter than the head and deep at base, the depth being 
more than half the chord of the culmen. The nostrils are small and 
circular, placed high up near base of culmen, close together on each side 
of culmen ridge. The inner edge of upper mandible is strongly serrated, 
while the nail is broad and overhangs the under mandible like a spout ; 
the under mandible is very flat, the mandibular ridges pronounced and 
strongly serrated, enclosing a deep unfeathered groove. Neck of medium 
length. The wings are long, with the first and second primaries longest 
and subequal. The tail is medium, less than half the length of the 
wing, and rounded in shape. 
The metatarsus is short, covered with reticulate scales, which, 
however, are so enlarged on the front towards the feet as to appear 
like scutellae. In length the metatarsus is equal to or rather longer than 
the culmen and less than half the tail. The toes are long, fully webbed ; 
the middle toe without the nail is longer than the metatarsus and about 
half the length of the tail. The hind toe is long, not lobed. The peculiar 
little birds comprising the genus Cheniscus bear in Australia the vernacular 
name of Goose-Teal, which is a good explanatory name, as, though having 
the general characters associated with a goose, they are only the size 
of a teal. 
In the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, Vol. XXVII., 
Salvador! placed them in a subfamily PlectfopteTinoB, a group of goose- 
like birds of varied forms, not otherwise easily classed. This group was 
apparently characterised as opposed to the geese proper by the length 
of the hind toe and generally glossy plumage, a somewhat artificial 
classification. 
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