BIRDS OF KANSAS. 97 



beneath, dingy greenish yellow, deepest yellow on the abdomen. (Hardly dis- 

 tinguishable from young of Bernida canadensis, but apparently more deeply 

 colored, and with greater contrast between color of upper and lower surfaces.) 

 "The principle variation among individuals of this species is the amount of 

 the black blotching on the lower parts." 



Stretch of 

 Length. -wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 28.50 57.50 16.75 6.00 2. 85 2.15 



Female... 27.00 56.00 16.00 5.75 2.85 1.90 



These birds are rarely met with on the Atlantic coast, but are 

 quite common in the Mississippi valley and abundant on the 

 Pacific slope. They prefer low, wet grounds in the vicinity of 

 timber, or where the prairie is dotted here and there with 

 bushes; and, while they occasionally forage off the wheat fields 

 and other grains on the bottom lands, they seldom visit the 

 high, dry prairies, like the Snow and Canada Geese. Their 

 food consists chiefly of vegetable matter, tender aquatic plants 

 the favorite, but insects, snails, frogs, etc., help to make up their 

 diet. Their flesh is highly esteemed. The birds are shy and 

 ever upon the lookout, and therefore not easily approached. 

 Their manner of flight, when going a long distance, is in the 

 form of a Y, like others of the family. 



They have been found breeding abundantly on the Yukon 

 River, the Arctic coast, and on the islands in the Arctic seas. 

 Their nest is a mere depression in the sand, worked out to fit 

 the body, and lined with grasses, feathers and down; but little 

 material, especially of down, used until the birds begin to set. 

 Eggs usually five to seven. A set of three eggs, taken in north- 

 ern Alaska, measure: 3.25x2.18, 3.22x2.20, 3.30x2.16; dull 

 cream white; in form, ovate. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, in his report on the "Birds of Behring 

 Sea and the Arctic Ocean," says: "This is the most widely- 

 distributed and abundant Goose throughout northern Alaska, 

 extending its habitat across to the Siberian coast of Behring Sea; 

 and nesting, as well, upon Saint Lawrence Island. We found 

 it in considerable numbers at the head of Kotzebue Sound, the 

 middle of July, 1881; and found many of the adults with their 



wing feathers moulted, and unable to fly, and the young still in 



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