904 



S YS TEMA TIC S YNOPSIS. — LA MELLIR OS TRES — A N SERES. 



trast with black belly. Size of the last, and difference between young and old the same. 

 Both coasts ; very abundant on the Pacific side, casual on the Atlantic. Migrations and breed- 

 ing resorts the same in latitude, usually with the difference in longitude just indicated ; nesting 

 the same, and eggs indistinguishable. {Bemicla brenta nigricans of 2d-4tli eds. of Key.) 

 B. canaden'sis. (Of Canada. Fig. 633.) Canada Goose. Common Wild Goose. 

 Cravat Goose. Common or Bio Gray Goose. Bay Goose. Reef Goose. Black- 

 headed Goose. Canada Brant. Honker. Bustard (from old Canadian-French outarde). 

 Tail normally 18-20-feathered. Adult ^ 9 : Bill, feet, head, and neck black ; on chin a 

 broad white patch or "cravat" mounting on sides of head behind eyes, sometimes broken on 



chin; not extending for- 

 ward to jaws ; white 

 touches usually on eye- 

 lids. Upper tail-coverts 

 definitely white ; rump 

 blackish; tail-feathers 

 black. General color 

 brownish-gray, paler or 

 more ashy-gray below, 

 all the feathers with paler 

 gray or whitish edges, 

 those of sides of body 

 usually darker than rest 

 of under parts ; lower 

 belly and crissum defi- 

 nitely white, with a very 

 well marked line of de- 

 marcation. Iris brown. 

 Length 3 feet or more ; 

 extent 5 feet ; wing 18-20 

 inches ; tail 7.00 ; tarsus 

 3.00-3.50 ; middle toe 

 and claw more ; bill about 

 2.00. North America at 

 large. The most gener- 

 ally distributed and on 

 the whole most abundant 

 Goose of our country. It 

 breeds in various parts 

 of the northern U. S., 

 sometimes in trees, but 

 many individuals pass 

 farther north to nest. Eggs 5-9, usually 5 or 6, ellipsoidal, smooth, pale dull greenish or 

 whitish, about 3.50 X 2.50. 



B. c. occideuta'lis. (Lat. occidentalis, western.) Larger White-cheeked Goose. 

 Similar to the last ; of equal size or nearly so, and tail 18-20-feathered. Coloration averaging 

 darker than in the last, on under parts especially, against which the white of anal and crissal 

 region is very well defined. Black of neck bounded below in front by a white half-collar, and 

 white cravat apt to be untied in front, making a pair of wliite cheek-patches. Bill averaging 

 shorter, perhaps never 2.00 along culmen, and tarsus relatively longer. The best samples are 

 well marked ; others shade into the common form inextricably. Pacific coast, especially 



Fig. C32. — Black Brant. (From American Field.) 



