94 HISTORY OF THE 



Mountains; south in M^inter through the Mississippi valley to 

 the Gulf coast; occasional on the Atlantic coast. 



Sp. Char. '■^ Adult: Head aud upper half of the neck white, or mostly white, 

 the former frequently washed with orange rufous anteriorly; lower neck and 

 body grayish brown, the feathers bordered terminally with paler; these pale edg- 

 ings, however, nearly obsolete on the neck, where the tint is darker, incliuiug to 

 plumbeous umber, which joins irregularly against the white above it. Kump 

 aud wings plain pearl gray or bluish cinereous, (the former sometimes white,) in 

 striking contrast to the deep grayish brown of the scapulars, sides, etc.; that of 

 the rump fading into while on the upper tail coverts, and that of the greater 

 coverts edged externally with the same. Primaries black, fading basally into 

 hoary gray; secondaries deep black, narrowly skirted with white; tail deep cine- 

 reous, the feathers distinctly bordered with white. Bill reddish, the commis- 

 sural space black; feet reddish. Young: Very similar, but the chin only white, 

 the rest of the head and neck being uniform plumbeous umber or brownish 

 plumbeous, like the breast, only darker in shade; body more cinereous than in 

 the adult, the pale tips to the nearly truncated contour feathers being obsolete. 

 Rump, wings aud tail as in the adult. Bill aud feet blackish. Downy young: 



In my Kevised Catalogue of the Birds of Kansas, I did not in- 

 clude this species in the list, but said: "This bird has been 

 dropped from the body of the A. O. U. list, and included in the 

 hypothetical list, on account of the possibility, if not probability, 

 that it is a colored phase of Chen hyperborea. The plumage of 

 the specimens that have come under my observation in both the 

 adult and young stages is certainly very distinct from C. hyper- 

 horea^ and in my opinion the bird will eventually be declared a 

 valid species, and restored to the list." I am pleased to note 

 that Mr. Robert Kidgway, one of the members of the A. O. U. 

 committee that prepared the list, has since, in his "Manual of 

 North American Birds," entered it as a species; and I heartily 

 restore it to my list* As the birds have generally been consid- 

 ered the young or colored phase of the Snow Goose, which it 

 resembles in actions and habits, but little is known with a cer- 

 tainty in regard to its nesting places. Mr. Ridgway says that 

 it breeds on the eastern shores of Hudson's Bay. 



* Since writing the above, the bird has been restored as a valid species, by the Council of 

 the A. O. IJ., and numbered 1(59.1. 



