96 HISTORY OF THE 



limits, or to point out any diffei-ence, if any, in its nesting 

 habits. Mr. Riclgway says: ''Eggs 3.13x2.12; breeding in 

 Alaska." Mr. MacFarlane found the Snow Goose breeding on 

 a small island in a lake near Liverpool Bay, Arctic coast. 

 Their nests were placed in holes or depressions in the sand, 

 and lined with down; they are also said to nest in marshy 

 places. Eggs usually five to eight; cream color; in form, 

 ovate. 



Genus ANSER Beisson. 



•'Bill more slender, the culmen gently concave, the lower outline of the man- 

 dible slightly concave anteriorly; decidedly depressed immediately behind the 

 rather thin nails; commissure nearly, or quite, closed by the close approximation 

 of the tomia. Head and neck never white, and no species entirely white (nor- 

 mally). Bill and feet light colored, in the adult." 



Anser albifrons gambeli (Hartl.). 



AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 

 PLATE VII. 



Migratory; common. Arrive in March; return in October. 



B. 565. 566. K. 593a. C. 693. G. 278, 43. U. 171a. 



Habitat. North America, breeding far northward; in win- 

 ter, south to Mexico and Cuba. 



Sp. Char. ^^Adult: Prevailing color brownish gray, this uniform on the 

 head and neck, and becoming much darker on the flanks; feathers of the mantle, 

 wings, sides and flanks distinctly bordered terminally with pale brownish ash 

 (sometimes approaching grayish white); upper edges of the upper layer of flank 

 feathers pure white, producing a conspicuous white stripe when the feathers are 

 properly adjusted. Breast and abdomen grayish white, mixed more or less with 

 irregular spots and patches of black, sometimes scattered and isolated, but 

 oftener more or less confluent. Anal region, crissum and upper tail coverts im- 

 maculate pm-e white; rump brownish slate; greater wing coverts glaucous gray, 

 tipped with white; secondaries black, their edges narrowly white; primaries 

 slaty black, growing ashy basally; primary coverts glaucous gray. Tail brown- 

 ish slate, broadly tipped with white, the feathers narrowly skirted with the same. 

 Front of the head, from the base of the bill to about half way across the lores 

 and forehead, Including the anterior border of the chin, white, bordered behind 

 by brownish black, which gradually fades into the grayish brown of the head 

 and neck. Bill reddish (wax yellow, vide Nelson), the nail white; feet reddish. 

 Young: Nearly the same as the adult, but the anterior portion of the head dark 

 brown instead of white; wing coverts less glaucous; black blotches of the under 

 surface absent. Nail of the bill black. Downy young: Above, olive green; 



