GEESE 



i6i 



Little Canada Goose, Little Wild (louse. Small 

 Gray Goose, Little Gray Goose, Short-necked 

 Goose, or Mud Goose. 



The White-cheeked Goose ( lh-an(a caitadcnsis 

 occidcntalis) and the Cackling Goose [Branta 

 canadensis ininiina) are other geographical vari- 

 eties of the Canada Goose. The former is found 

 in the Pacific coast district of North America, 

 hreeding from Prince William Sound and Mit- 

 kof Island south to northeastern California, and 

 wintering from Washington to south California. 



It is like the Canada, but the under parts are 

 darker and the white cheek patches are usually 

 separated by a black throat patch. The Cackling 

 Goose is like the \\'hite-cheeked but smaller in 

 size. It breeds in the western Aleutians and 

 Norton Sound south to the northern coast of the 

 Alaskan peninsula. In the winter it may be found 

 from British Columbia sotith to .San Diego 

 county, California; it has sometimes been re- 

 ported from Colorado, Iowa, ^^'isconsin, and 

 Illinois. 



BRANT 

 Branta bernicia glaucogastra {Brclnii) 



A. () V. Number i;ja See Color I'late jj 



Other Names.— Common Brant ; Eastern Brant : 

 White-bellied Brant; Light-bellied Brant; Brant Goose; 

 Clatter Goose; Crocker; Quink ; Black Brant; Brent 

 Goose ; Burnt Goose. 



General Description. — Lengtii, J4 inches. Color 

 above, brownish-gray ; below, ashy-gray and white. 

 Neck, long and slender. 



Color. — Adults (sexes alike) : Ifrud, iirck. throat, 

 and breast, black; on each side of neck a series of 5 

 or 6 ti'liite streaks; upper parts, brownish-gray, the 

 feathers lighter edged ; rump, darker ; upper tail-coverts, 

 white ; primaries and secondaries, dusky ; lower breast, 

 pale ashy-gray fading on abdomen and lower wing- 

 coverts to white: bill and feet, black; iris, brown. 

 IMM.^TURE: Similar, but not so much white on sides of 



neck and wing-coverl^, and the secondaries tipped with 

 wliite. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A depression in the 

 ground on marsny ground or sandy beaches; made of 

 grass, moss, and feathers and lined with down. Ecus : 

 4 to 6, grayish-white. 



Distribution. — Nortliern hemisphere ; breeds on 

 ,'\rctic islands north of latitude 74° and west to about 

 longitude 100°, and on the whole west coast of Green- 

 land ; winters on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts, 

 south to North Carolina, rarely to Florida ; has been 

 recorded in the interior from Manitoba, Ontario, Colo- 

 rado, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and 

 I^ouisiana ; accidental in British Columbia and the 

 Barbados. 



BLACK BRANT 

 Branta nigricans { Laiurciicc) 



.\. CI. U. Xiiiiil.er 174 See Color I'latc 2j 



Description. — Like the Brant, but black of head and 

 breast extending over most of under parts, fading on 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts into lighter; white neck 

 patches usually larger and meeting in front. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nesting similar to and eggs indis- 

 tinguishalilc from the Brant's. 



Distribution. — Western North America; breeds on 

 the Arctic coast and islands from Point Barrow east 



to near mouth of Anderson River, north probably to 

 Melville Island ; common on Siberian coast, Chukchi 

 Pennisula, and west to New Siberian Islands ; winters 

 on the Pacific coast from British Columbia south to 

 San Quintin Bay, Lower California, in the interior of 

 Oregon and Nevada, and on the Asiatic coast south to 

 Japan ; recorded as a straggler to Massachusetts, New 

 York, and New Jersey. 



The Brant is the smallest of otir wild Geese 

 and is known to the United States only as a 

 winter visitor. Its summer home is beneath the 

 very shadow of the frozen pole, for its nest is 

 built well within the Arctic circle. When the 



first breath of auttnnn sweeps over our sotithland 

 the wild water-fowl begin to apjiear, and every 

 successive gale from the North brings its teeming 

 thousands. Not among the first arrivals btit soon 

 to follow comes the Brant. It does not visit the 



