Family XXXIX. ANATINAE. DUCKS.
GENUS II. ANSER, Briss. GOOSE

Bill shorter than the head, rather higher than 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, pervious, lower mandible straight, with the angle very long, narrow, and rounded, the edges soft and obtuse, with numerous oblique lamellae, the tip broadly convex. Head small, oblong, 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 elevated, third toe longest, fourth longer than second; all reticulated at the base, scutellate toward the end, the anterior webbed. Claws small, arched, rather compressed. Plumage close, compact above, blended beneath. Wings long, convex, the second quill longest, the first and third nearly equal. Tail very short, of sixteen or more feathers.