378 Synopsis of the Birds 
temperate regions : very rare and accidental in the United 
States. 
320. Anser bernicla, Nob. Blackish-ash ; head neck and 
breast, black ; a white patch each side of the neck ; beneath 
whitish ; bill and feet black ; tail of sixteen feathers. 
The Brant , Anas hernicla , tVils. Am. Orn . viii. p. 131 • 
pi. 72. fig. 1. Anser torquatus , Frisch Vieill. 
Inhabits the Arctic regions, migratory in both continents : 
very common and numerous in the middle states at its double 
passage, when great havoc is made among them. 
72. CYGNUS. 
Anas , L. Gm. Lath. III. Temm. Ranz . Anser , Briss . 
Cygnus , Bechst . Cuv. Vieill. Brehm Stephens Boie. Cygne, 
Temm. 
Bill at base higher than broad, gibbous, subcylindric 
above, of equal breadth throughout, obtuse ; teeth lamelli- 
form ; upper mandible unguiculated and curved at tip ; 
lower shorter, narrower, covered by the margins of the 
upper, flattened : nostrils medial, oval, open, pervious, cover- 
ed by a membrane : tongue thick, fleshy, broad, fimbriated on 
the sides, obtuse. Head small, lora naked : neck exceed- 
ingly long, much longer than the body, slender ; body much 
compressed, elegantly shaped. Felt placed far back, very 
short, stout, large ; tarsus shorter than the middle toe ; mid- 
dle toe longest, outer longer than the inner, webs full, entire, 
very broad ; hind toe equal to a phalanx of the middle, sim- 
ple, touching the ground merely at tip. Wings very long, 
when folded, the primaries hardly reach beyond the seconda- 
ries ; first and fourth primaries equal ; second and third 
longest. Tail cuneiform, of numerous feathers. 
Female somewhat smaller, perfectly similar to the male. 
Young differing from the adult for two or three years. Moult 
simple, annual, but protracted. Plumage excessively close 
