184 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Mr. McAtee (1910 and 1911) found these geese exceedingly abund- 

 ant in a very restricted area on the Louisiana coast. He writes : 



The center of abundance of the species is a narrow strip extending along 

 the coast of Louisiana from the Delta of the Mississippi to a short distance 

 west of Vermilion Bay. To the eastward the bird is Ifnown only as a straggler, 

 and to the west it diminishes gradually in numbers, being scarce on the ex- 

 treme western coast of Louisiana and rare on the Texas coast. * * * Being 

 so localized in their winter range, it might seem that the blue geese are in 

 danger of extermination. But they are so wary and so few hunters molest 

 them that at present there is no appi'eciable reduction in their numbers by 

 man. The same is true, I feel sure, erf the winter colonies of snow geese and 

 swans on Currituck Sound, North Carolina. So long as conditions remain the 

 same, the birds being very wary, and having little market value, there is no 

 incentive to kill them, nothing occurring during their stay in the United 

 States will materially lessen their numbers, nor even interfere with the in- 

 crease of these fine birds. However, if they should become an object of pur- 

 suit, it is equally true that they would diminish very rapidly. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. — Recently reported as breeding in large numbers 

 in the interior of southern Baffin Land. Breeding range otherwise 

 unloiown. 



Winter range. — Mainly in a very restricted area on the coast of 

 Louisiana; from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Vermilion 

 Bay, decreasing very rapidly in abundance eastward and more 

 gradually westward to the coast of Texas (Rockport, Corpus Christi, 

 and Brownsville). Has been recorded in winter as far north as 

 Nebraska, southern Illinois, and Ohio (New Bremen, January 17, 

 1916), but probably only casually. 



Spring migration. — Northward through the Mississippi Valley 

 up the east coasts of James Bay and Hudson Bay. Early dates of 

 arrival : New York, Amagansett, March 21 ; Rhode Island, Westerly, 

 March 16; Illinois, Lacon, March 23; Iowa, March 28; Manitoba, 

 Aweme, April 9; Ontario, Kingsville, April 6. Late dates of de- 

 parture: New York, Miller Place, April 28; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, 

 May 29. 



Fall migration. — Southward across the eastern United States; 

 more easterly than in the spring. Early dates of arrival: Ontario, 

 Ottawa, October 11; Maine, Umbagog Lake, October 2; Massa- 

 chusetts, Gloucester, October 20; Rhode Island, Charlestown Beach, 

 October 16 ; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, October 1 ; Illinois, Gary, Octo- 

 ber 21; Louisiana, November 1. Late dates of departure: James 

 Bay, Moose River, November 1; Ontario, Thames River, November 

 16 ; Maine, Little Spoon Island, November 13 ; Rhode Island, Dyers 

 Island, November 9 ; New York, Amity ville, November 22 ; Manitoba^ 

 Aweme, October 24. 



