72 
GOOSANDER. 
glossy bottle-green color, extending nearly half way down the neck, 
the remainder of which, with the exterior part of the scapulars, the 
lesser coverts, the greater part of the secondaries, the tertials, and 
lining of the wings, white, delicately tinged with cream color ; the 
breast and whole lower parts are of a rich cream color ; the upper 
part of the back, and the interior scapulars, a fine glossy black ; the 
primaries, and exterior part of the secondaries, with their coverts, 
are brownish black ; the lower part of nearly all the coverts of the 
secondaries white, the upper part black, forming a bar across the 
Aving ; the shoulder of the wing is brownish ash, the feathers tipt 
with black ; the middle and lower parts of the back, and tail-co- 
verts, ash, the plumage centred with brown ; tail brownish ash, 
rounded, composed of eighteen feathers, and extends about three 
inches beyond the wings ; the flanks are marked with waving, fine- 
ly-dotted, lines of ash on a white ground ; tertials on the outer 
vanes edged with black ; the legs and feet are of a rich orange ; 
toes long, middle one somewhat the longest, claws flesh colored. 
The whole plumage is of a silky softness, particularly that of the 
head and neck, which feels like the most delicate velvet. 
Naturalists represent the feet and legs of this species as of the 
color of red sealing-wax. This is an error which arose from the 
circumstance of their having seen their specimens some time after 
they had been killed. When the bird is alive, these parts are of a 
beautiful orange, which changes after death to the color they men- 
tion. 
The above description was taken from a fine full-plumaged 
male, which was shot in the vicinity of Philadelphia in the month 
of January. It was in good condition, and weighed three pounds 
thirteen ounces avoirdupois. The young males, Avhich are gene- 
rally much more numerous than the old ones, so exactly resemble 
the females in their plumage, for at least the first, and part of the 
second, year, as scarcely to be distinguished from them ; and, what 
is somewhat singular, the crests of these, and of the females, are 
