66 DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



sprouting grain in spring. In winter they feed largely on the tender 

 white roots of a rush — Juncushalticus (?) — dug from the river banks, 

 marshes, and shores. They are usually lean, and their flesh is dark 

 and generally tough. Vernon Bailey. 



169a. Chen hyperborea nivalis {Forst.). Greater Snow Goose. 



Like hyperborea, but larger. Length: 30-38, wing- 17.35-17.50, bill 2.55- 

 2.70. 



Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding in northern Greenland 

 and probably west to Mackenzie River ; south in winter along Atlantic 

 coast to Cuba, and in the Mississippi valley to Nebraska and Colorado. 



Nest. — Little known. Eggs : 5 to 8, cream color. 



Subgenus Exanthemops. 

 170. Chen rossii (Cassin). Ross Snow Goose. 



Adults. — Base of upper mandible often rough and warty ; bill compara- 

 tively small and without black stripe along side ; plumage as in hyperborea. 

 Length: 20-26, wing 13.75-15.50, bill 1.50-1.70. 



Distribution. — Interior of arctic America ; south in winter to California 

 and east to Montana. Rare. 



GENUS ANSER. 



171a. Anser albifrons gambeli (Hartl). White-fronted 

 Goose. 

 Bill comparatively low at base, yellow or orange ; feet orange or red- 

 dish. Adults : face white, bor- 

 dered with dusky ; rest of head 

 and neck, also shoulders and 

 chest, dark gray ; belly and 

 sides black or spotted with 

 black, becoming white pos- 

 teriorly and on under tail 

 coverts ; back dusky gray. 

 Young: without white face 

 or black on belly. Length : 27- 

 30. wing U.25-17.50, bill 1.80- 

 2.35, depth of upper mandible 

 at base .90-;1.20. 



Distribution. -^ North Amer- 



Fig. 81. 



iea and Greenland, breeding from Vancouver Island to the Arctic Ocean ; 

 south in winter to Mexico and Cuba. 



Nest. — A shallow cavity in the ground lined with grass, feathers, and 

 down. Eggs : 5 to 7, creamy white. 



The food of the white-fronted goose, according to Goss, consists 

 chiefly of vegetable matter, tender aquatic plants, insects, snails, and 

 frogs. In the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys the geese are so 

 abundant and their ravages to the growing wheat crop so serious 

 that farmers often hire men by the month to drive them away. Dr. 

 Merrill says that the numbers of these birds that migrate through 

 western Oregon are so immense they cannot be appreciated until one 



