34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1893. 



specimen shot at Nisqually is referable to this species, but resembles 

 occidentalis in color of lower parts. 



55. Branta canadensis hutchinsii. Hutchin's Goose. 



56. Branta canadensis occidentalis. White-cheeked Goose. 



*57. Branta canadensis minima. Cackling Goose. 



Intergrades connect any series of Washington birds of this group 

 so completely that it is impossible to class every individual by its 

 size or coloration. Three specimens obtained from the same 

 flock may be severally referred to hutchinsii and Occident alts, one 

 of them being intermediate between hutchinsii and occidentalis and 

 another between hutchinsii and minima. All the Canada geese 

 obtained on my trip were secured at Nisqually in April and were 

 migrants. If Mr. Fannin's statements are based on authentic 

 records and on specimens taken in the proper season, canadensis and 

 hutchinsii breed in the same localities on the mainland, a state of 

 affairs unknown east of the Rockies and inconsistent with their 

 classification as it now stands in the books. The bulk of Pacific 

 coast skins examined present a most puzzling constancy in their inter- 

 mediate size coupled with an inconstancy of coloration which makes 

 their classification by the most adjustable formula of little value. 



The faunal position of Puget Sound and the Gulf of Georgia 

 makes them the winter l'esort not only of canadensis but of all its 

 three offshoots, thus presenting an array of combinations in winter 

 which the magic wand of migration alone can classify. Until we 

 follow aud secure them on their breeding grounds the true relation- 

 ships of the Branta canadensis group in British Columbia will 

 remain a mystery. But it is probable it will resolve itself at that sea- 

 son into a case of parallel intergradation, occidentalis east of the 

 Cascades insensibly diminishing into minima, and west of the Cas- 

 cades, canadensis merging into hutchinsii, as they severally approach 

 the Arctic Circle. 



*58. Branta nigricans. Black Brant. 



Numerous on the larger bodies of salt water during March and 

 April. 



■59. Olor columbianus. Whistling Swan. 



Puget Sound, Edwards Bros. ; Vancouver Island, W. Lindley ; 

 Vernon, W. C. Pound ; La Hache and Williams Lakes (breeds), 

 G. Hamilton. 



