MAMMALS AND BIRDS OF ALASKA 



29 



While the oceiiiTence of so many kinds of ducks in Alaska may be 

 sinpi-ising:, of equal interest is the presence in numbers of various 

 kinds of wild geese, of which there are eight that nest there. Com- 

 monest are the three races of the Canada goose, namely, the white- 

 cheeked goose, restricted to the islands of southeastern Alaska (fig. 30) ; 

 and the lesser Canada goose and the diminutive cackling goose, which 

 are found over large areas of the northern and west(U'n parts. Two 

 varieties of white geese, both with jet black wing tii)s, visit Alaska; the 

 lesser snow goose and the tiny Ross' goose, the nest of which has only 

 lecently been found, for the fiist time, in the Perry River district. 



Figure 30. — White-cheeked geese, Chichagof Island. (Photo by Frank 

 Dufresne.) 



Northwest Territory, Canada.- A common nester throughout western 

 Alaska is the highly favored white-fronted, or speclde-bellied goose, 

 relative of the common graylag of Europe, the reputed progenitor of 

 the domestic goose. Alaska's most beautiful goose, the emperor, 

 never leaves the Territory except as a rare straggler. This slate-blue 

 bird, with white neck and head washed with orange, nests along the 

 Bering Sea tidal lands and winters in the Aleutian Islands. The great 

 Hocks of black brant, which form such a striking attraction on the 

 California coast in winter, have their nesting grounds along the 

 western and northern shores of Alaska. To the Eskimos, the long, 

 waving, cobwebby patterns of these birds heading northward over the 

 broken ice floes heralds spring and their equally impressive southward 

 flight portends the approach of winter. 



