Geese which occur in California, 97 



1884, and were last seen at Chico by Mr. Proud on April 27 of the 

 same year. They sometimes enter California from the east slope 

 in Nevada and leave in the same direction, probably stopping 

 awhile about the numerous lakes of Nevada and northeastern Cali- 

 fornia. 



Mr. Evermann says it is an abundant winter resident of Ventura 

 County. It was abundant in the northern part of San Diego County 

 in the winters of 1884 and 1885, and Mr. Morgan told me he saw 

 a great many of these and other geese at Ersenada, and on the head 

 of the Gulf of California in the winter of 1883-84, which is prob- 

 ably about as far south as it goes on this coast. 



Blue Goose. Chen ccsr^descens. Two of these geese were shot, 

 one day, about February i, of this year, by two hunters who were 

 hunting together near Stockton. Mr. M. J. Shaw of the game mar- 

 ket kept one of them on exhibition as long as he could, and then 

 saved the head and neck, wings and legs. These fragments were 

 all that I saw of the bird, and these I sent to Mr. Ridgway for iden- 

 tification. He said it was a true Chen ccBrulescens — a juvenile. 



There was no white or light shade on the chin, nor on any part 

 that I saw, and several persons who saw this goose before it was 

 dismembered told me it was entirely blue except the quills. These 

 were brownish-black. The blue was nearly that of the sand-hill 

 crane. The wing measured about 15, tarsus 3, middle toe and claw 

 very nearly 3, the naked culmen 2 inches. 



I think the blue goose has not heretofore been reported in Cal- 

 ifornia, though my belief has been for nearly ten years that I have 

 occasionally seen the plumage which is attributed to the adult, a 

 few of which I shot, besides some I had seen in market, but the 

 plumage of the uniform blue bird described above is new to me, 

 as it was to many sportsmen and others who saw Mr. Shaw's spec- 

 imen. 



Ross's Snow Goose. Chen rossii. This diminutive white 

 goose can readily be separated from any other form, being much 

 smaller than any and having a warty appearance at the base of the 

 bill. They weigh each about two and one-half pounds, have light 

 colored flesh and are very palatable. 



They breed in Arctic America, arrive in California with, or about 

 the same time other white geese arrive, and probably go as far south 



