270 
ANATIN^. ANSER. 
GENUS II. ANSER, Briss. GOOSE. 
Bill shorter than the head, rather higher ^han broad at 
the base, somewhat conical, depressed toward the end, 
rounded at the tip ; upper mandible with the dorsal line 
sloping, the ridge broad and flattened, the sides sloping, the 
edges soft and obtuse, internally with numerous oblique 
marginal lamellae, the unguis obovate, convex ; nasal groove 
oblong, filled by the soft membrane of the bill ; nostrils 
medial, lateral, longitudinal, narrow-elliptical, open, pervi- 
ous, lower mandible straight, with the angle very long, nar- 
row, and rounded, the edges soft and obtuse, with numerous 
oblique lamellae, the tip broadly convex. Head, small, ob- 
long, compressed ; neck long and slender ; body very full, 
slightly depressed. Feet short, stout ; tibia bare for a short 
space below ; tarsus short, a little compressed, covered all 
round with angular scales ; hind toe very small and eleva- 
ted, third toe longest, fourth longer than second ; all reti- 
culated at the base, scutellate toward the end, the anterior 
webbed. Claws small, arched, rather compressed. Plumage 
close, compact above, blended beneath. Wings long, con- 
vex, the second quill longest, the first and third nearly equal. 
Tail very short, of sixteen or more feathers. 
378. 1. Anser Canadensis, Linn. Canada Goose. 
Plate CCI. Male and Female. 
Tail of eighteen feathers ; bill, feet, and claws black, head and two 
upper thirds of neck glossy black ; forehead, cheeks, and chin, tinged 
with brown ; lower eyelid white ; a broad band of white across the throat 
to behind the eye ; rump and tail-feathers^lack ; general colour of the 
rest of upper parts greyish-brown, wing-coverts shaded into ash-grey, 
all the feathers terminally edged with very pale brown ; lower part of 
neck passing to greyish- white, which is the general colour of the lower 
parts, unless in old birds where it is buflT, with the exception of the 
abdomen, which is pure white, the sides, which are pale brownish- 
grey, the feathers tipped with white, and the lower wing-coverts, 
which are also pale brownish-grey ; margins of rump and upper tail- 
coverts pure white. Female with the tints somewhat duller. 
