the belly, and all the under surface of the body, white ; sides,
flanks, and thighs, barred with ash-colour and g r e y i s h -white;
under tail-coverts, and the under surface of the tail-feathers,
white ; legs, toes, and membranes, dull flesh-colour; the
claws black.
The whole length of an adult male is thirty-five inches ;
the wing, from the carpal joint to the end of the second
quill-feather, which is the longest, seventeen inches and a
half; the wings when closed scarcely reaching to the end of
the tail. Both males and females have a hard callous knob
at the point of the wing, which varies in size in the different
species of Geese. The males in this genus are larger than
the females. An adult female measured thirty inches in
the whole length, and sixteen inches in the wing. Mr.
Bartlett, who has paid great attention to the plumage of
these birds, says, the young of this species are darker than
the adults, hut the grey colour of the shoulders and rump,
the form of the bill, and the colour of the legs and feet, will
always distinguish them from the young of any of the other
species.
The Grey Lag Goose in a domestic state has produced
young by union with the Knobbed, or Swan Goose, A. cyg-
noides ;* also with the Canada Goose, and once with the
Bernacle Goose. It has been stated that when a union
takes place between two different species of Geese, both
having light-coloured legs, or both having black legs, the
young are prolific ; but when produced between two birds
one of which has light-coloured legs, the other black legs,
the young are not prolific.
The Knobbed, Swan, Guinea, Cape, or Chinese Goose—for by all these names
is it known—is an introduced species, a native of Central Asia. Both there and
in this country it breeds freely in confinement with the domestic species, the
hybrids being fertile. From time to time an unpinioned individual escapes, and
is duly slain and recorded.
A NS E RES. ANATIDJE.
A n s e r a l b ifr o n s (Scopoli^).
THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE,
OR LAUGHING GOOSE.
Anser albifrons.
T h e W h i t e -fr o n t e d or L a u g h in g G oose may be considered
as a regular winter visitor to this country, not usually
so numerous as the Bean Goose, but occasionally appearing
in very large flocks, and in some proportion to the severity
of the weather on the Continent. This species frequents
marshes and morasses, rather than corn-fields ; and birds
examined by Selby were found to have their stomachs
filled with the tender shoots and leaves of the common
clover. Sometimes these birds are not uncommon in the
* Branta albifrons, Scopoli, Ann. I. Hitt. Nat. p. 69 (1769).