Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS

THE SWANS, GEESE, DUCKS, AND MERGANSERS

The Cape Barren or Cereopsis Goose

(Cereopsis novaz-hollandiaz) is another of the somewhat aberrant members of this family, well entitled to stand as the only living representative of a subfamily (Cereopsince).

It is nearly three feet in total length, of massive build, with stout legs and feet, and a short, thick bill, nearly the whole of which is covered with a cere of a lemon-yellow color. The plumage is brownish gray, becoming whitish on the crown of the head, and the feathers of the back and wing-coverts with a brownish black spot near the tips.

The bill, except when it is covered with the cere, is black and the legs reddish orange. Gould states that this Goose was found to be very abundant by the early voyagers, and so tame that it could be knocked down with sticks or even taken in the hand; but as it is strictly a vegetable feeder, its flesh proved such excellent eating that it was soon almost exterminated, and sixty years ago it had become so scarce as to be rarely seen. It seems likely that it will ultimately share the fate of its near relative, the extinct Cnemiornis.

The voice of the bird is described as a disagreeable deep, hoarse clanging, and the nest as a well-built affair lined with feathers and down. The eggs are creamy white in color and about three and one fourth by two and one fourth inches. It takes readily to confinement, but is very pugnacious, inflicting severe wounds with its powerful, sharp bill.

previous bird species next bird species