Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/112

 GOOLE GOOSE that John Eliot solicited from Robert Boyle a gift of 10 for his widow. His "Historical Collections of the Indians of Massachusetts' bears the date of 1674, and was first published in 1792. He is said to have written a history of New England, which is lost. (,oou:, a town of Yorkshire, England, on the Ouse, 22 m. W. of Hull ; pop. in 1871, 7,680. It is the terminus of the Pontefract and Goole railway, and the railway from Hull to Doncaster runs through it ; and it has com- munication with Leeds, Manchester, and Liver- pool by means of the Knottingley and Goole canal. There are here extensive docks and warehouses, and a slip for repairing vessels. Boat building, sail making, and iron founding are carried on to some extent. It contains a new church, with a lofty tower, places of wor- ship for various dissenting denominations, and several literary and charitable institutions. GOOMTEE, or Goomty (Hin. Gomati), a river of British India, rising in the district of Shah- jehanpoor, in a small lake, 19 m. E. of Pilli- bheet, lat. 28 35' N., Ion. 80 10' E., and after a 8. E. course of 482 m., in which it traverses the territory of Oude, falling into the Ganges, on its left side, in lat. 25 29', Ion. 83 15'. The principal town on its banks is Lucknow, 308 m. from its mouth, to which it is navigable. It is wide, in the dry season 4 ft. deep, and it rises 15 ft. at Lucknow in the rainy season. GOOSANDER, an American fishing duck of the subfamily mergince and genus mergus (Linn.) ; besides the goosander (M. Americanus, Cassin), the subfamily includes the mergansers and the smew. The bird is about 27 in. long, and 3 ft. in extent of wings; the bill about 3 in., of a Gooaander (Mergus Americanus). bright r.-d rolor; weights Ibs. ; the female is eooridermbly smaller. Common names of this species are sawbill, sheldrake, and, for the fe- male, dun diver. The feathers of the forehead KKtcodia aa acute angle on the bill; the nos- trils are large, and near the middle of the bill- the plumage is full, soft, and glossy ; there is a slight crest in the male ; the wings and tail are short, the latter rounded, with 18 feathers; the iris is carmine ; the feet orange red in winter, vermilion in the breeding season ; the bill nar- row, compressed, with a conspicuous black nail, the edges with sharp recurved serrations; tarsi two thirds the length of the middle toe, much compressed. The head. and neck are metallic green; lower neck and rest of body beneath creamy white, becoming salmon red ; fore part of back black ; lower back, rump, and tail feathers ashy gray ; most of the wings creamy white, except the greater coverts, which are black at the base, forming a black bar, and the tertials narrowly edged with black; primaries black; sides with slight transverse bars. In the female the head and neck are chestnut; above ashy, salmon-colored below; the black base of the secondaries is entirely concealed, and there is less white on the wings. In the European sheldrake (M. merganser, Linn.) the bill is relatively longer and narrower; the elon- gated feathers forming the crest are longer and more erectile, and begin almost at the base of the bill ; and the bar of black on the wings is concealed by the lesser coverts. The American bird was considered the same as the European, until separated by Mr. Cassin in 1853. The goosander is found throughout North America, breeding in the temperate and northern re- gions, in the neighborhood of both salt and fresh water; it is abundant in the fur countries. It is strong and active, a powerful swimmer, excellent diver, and rapid flier; it swims very deeply, presenting a small mark for the gun- ner, diving at the flash or at the click of the lock ; it can run very well on land. It is very vo- racious, feeding on fish, mollusks, and reptiles; it dives for its prey, rising to the surface with the fish or other animal in its bill, and swallows it head foremost; its flesh is tough and oily. The nest is made near the water, of weeds and roots, and is lined with its down ; it is about 7^ in. in diameter internally, and 4 in. deep ; the eggs, 7 or 8, are 3 in. long by two broad, smooth, elliptical, and of a uniform dull cream color ; the young of a few hours old are ex- cellent divers. The note is a harsh croak. They are easily caught, like the loon, on hooks baited with fish. In their digestive organs, the mergansers are more allied to the divers (colym- bidce) than to the ducks (anatidai), and seem to form a connecting link between the two. GOOSE, a web-footed bird, of the order an- seres and family anatidce, of which the typical species are in the subfamily anserine. The other subfamily consists of the plectropterinw, or spur-winged geese, in which the bend of the wings is armed with a spur or blunt tuber- cle; it contains the genera anseranas (Less.), of Australia ; plectropterus (Leach), of Africa, laving a naked protuberance at the base of the culmen and a part of the neck bare ; sar- kidiornis (Eyton), of the warm regions of America, India, and Africa, having a large,