122 BIEDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Branta canadensis hutchinsii (Sw. & Rich.) 



HUTCHINS'S GOOSE. 



Popular synonyms. Lesser Canada Goose; Small Gray Goose; Little Wild Goose; Eskimo 

 Goose; Mud Goose (Long Island); Marsh Goose (North Carolina); Prairie Goose; 

 Bay Goose (Texas). 



Anas bernicla, var. b. Kich. App. Parry's Voy. 368. 



Anser hutchinsii Sw. &Rich. E. B.-A, ii, 1831, 470.— Nutt. Man. ii, 1834, 362.— Aud. Orn. 



Biog. iii, 1835,226, pi. 277; Synop. 1839,271; B. Am. vi, 1843, 198, pi. 377. 

 Bernicla hutchinsii Woodh. Sitgr. Exp. 1853, 102.— Baied, B. N. Am. 1858, pp. xlix, 766; 



Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 569. 

 Branta hutchinsii Bannist. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1870, 131.— Ridgw. Orn. 40th 



Par. 1877,620. 

 Branta canadensis, var. hutchinsii Coues, Key, 1872, 284; Check List, 1873, No. 485?>. 

 Branta canadensis, c. hutchinsii Coues, B .N. W. 1874, 554. 

 Bernicla canadensis hutchinsii, Ridgw. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii, 1880, 203; Nom. N. 



Am. B. 1881, No. 594a.-CouES, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, No. 704. 

 Bernicla canadensis y. hutchinsi B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. i, 1884, 455, 458. 

 Branta canadensis hutchinsii A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No, 172a.— Ridgw. Man. N. 



Am. B. 1887, 117. 

 Anser leucopareius Brandt, Bull. Sc. Ac. St. Petersb. i, 1836, 37. 



Hab. North America in general, breeding in the Arctic districts, and migrating south 

 in winter, chiefly through the western United States and Mississippi Valley; northeastern 

 Asia. 



Subsp. Char. Exactly like B. canadensis in plumage, but considerably smaller, and 

 tail-feathers usually 14 or 16. Total length about 25.00-35.00 inches; wing, 14.75-17.75; culmen, 

 1.20-1.90; tarsus, 2.25-3.20. 



In a large series of specimens, the following variations are 

 noted: The ashy beneath varies from a pale tint of canadensis 

 to the dark shades of minima and occidentaUs, but is usually 

 about intermediate between the two extremes; the white collar 

 round the neck, at the lower edge of the black, is seen only in 

 autumnal or winter specimens. The white of the head is usually 

 uninterrupted on the throat, even in very dark-plum aged ex- 

 amples, but occasionally is separated into two patches by a black 

 throat-stripe, as in minima and occidentalism the plumage other- 

 wise being light colored. 



This small form of the Canada (Joose is abundant in Illinois 

 during its migrations, and has little to distinguish it from the 

 larger kind beyond its smaller size, proportionally smaller bill, 

 and the possession, ordinarily, of fewer tail-feathers (one or two 

 pairs less). 



