Ornithological biography, Vol. 3 (of 5)

by John James Audubon

Head large, compressed. Neck rather short. Body bulky and much depressed. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly having a series of narrow scutella in its whole length, and a partial series above the fourth toe, the rest reticulated with angular and oblong scales; hind toe small, with a free membrane beneath; anterior toes longer than the tarsus, connected by reticulated membranes having a sinus at their free margins, the inner with a broad lobed marginal membrane, the outer with a thickened edge; all obliquely scutellate above; the third and fourth about equal and longest. Claws small, arched, compressed, obtuse, that of first toe very small and more curved, of middle toe largest, more depressed, and with a dilated inner edge.

Plumage short, dense, blended. Feathers on the fore part of the head extremely small, on the upper part very narrow, on the sides of the head very short, stiff and hair-like. Wings rather short, narrow, and pointed; primary quills curved, strong, tapering, the second longest, the first almost as long, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries short, broad, rounded, excepting the inner, which are elongated, tapering, and curved outwards. Tail very short, much rounded, of fourteen stiff narrow feathers.

Bill flesh-coloured, the sides of the upper mandible and the soft frontal lobes bright orange. Iris bright yellow. Feet dull orange, the webs dusky, the claws brownish-black. The band of feathers separating the frontal lobes, and those along their upper and posterior edges, black; lower eyelid, and a forked patch on the throat, the same. The upper part of the head light purplish-grey; the hair-like feathers on the sides of the head pale bluish-green; the fore neck cream coloured; the sides and hind part of the neck, a patch on the wings, and another on each side of the rump, white. The hind part of the back, the scapulars, the larger wing-coverts, and the secondary quills, brownish-black, the latter glossed with green; primary quills and tail blackish-brown. Breast and abdomen blackish-brown; lower wing-coverts white, the outer brown.

Length to end of tail 25 inches, to end of wings 23; wing from flexure 11 1/4; tail 3 3/4; bill from the base of the tumid part 1 1/4, along the edge of lower mandible 2 5/12; tarsus 1 3/4; middle toe 2 10/12, its claw 4/8.

Adult Female. Plate CCLXXVI. Fig. 2.

The Female differs greatly from the male. The bill is shorter, its tumid basal lobes narrow and not ascending perpendicularly, so that the forehead is low as in most Ducks. The feathers of the head and upper part of the neck are small, soft, and uniform. The colour of the bill is pale greenish-grey; the iris dull yellow; the feet dull ochre. The head and neck are pale greyish-yellow, with small lines of brownish-black. The feathers of the back are brownish-black towards the end, with yellowish-grey edges, the scapulars brownish-red on the margins. The quills and tail-feathers are deep greyish-brown; the recurved secondaries broadly edged externally with yellowish-grey. The fore part of the lower neck and breast, the sides, and lower tail-coverts, have a central mark and submarginal band of brownish-black, the middle of the breast scarcely spotted, being of the general colour of the lower parts, which is pale yellowish-brown.

Length to end of tail 20 inches, to end of wings 17; wing from flexure 10 1/2; tail 3 3/4; bill from the separation of the lobes 1 1/4; tarsus 1 8/12; middle toe 2 1/2, its claw 4/8.

HUTCHINS’S GOOSE.

Anser Hutchinsii, Richardson.
PLATE CCLXXVII. Adult.

In the first article in this volume, that of the Canada Goose, in which I have described the habits of that bird at considerable length, I had occasion to allude to a small species called by the gunners of Maine the Winter or Flight Goose, which they described to me as resembling the large and common kind in almost every particular except its size. Although it was not my good fortune while there to meet with the bird spoken of by men who were well acquainted with it, I have no doubt that it is the very species which has been named in honour of Mr Hutchins, and that its periodical appearance along our eastern coast will ere long be fully established. This is the more to be expected as Dr Richardson informs us that it is abundant about Hudson’s Bay, where it was long mistaken for the Brent, or an emaciated Canada Goose. In the mean time, having been presented with a specimen of the bird in question by my highly esteemed and gallant friend Captain James Clark Ross, I have embraced the opportunity thus offered, of laying before you a representation, the first I believe that has yet appeared, of Hutchins’s Goose.