140 Capt. Blakiston on the Birds of the 



arrives is the middle-sized species, which I believe to heA.albatus ; 

 next comes the smallest sort, A. rossii; and lastly the A. hyper- 

 boreus, which arrives when the trees are in leaf, and is called the 

 Yellow Wavey by the Indians." 0{ A. albatus Mr. Ross did not 

 procure a specimen; but he feels sure that he has shot it on 

 Great Slave Lake, whence he obtained the third species, described 

 by Prof. Baird as A. rossii. For my own part, I can only speak 

 to hsiving heard oi more than one species of Snow-Goose. There 

 is now a specimen of ^. rossii to be seen in the British Museum, 

 the locality of which is supposed to be California j it was pur- 

 chased in Paris. 



AnSER CjERULESCENS. 



"When the * Fauna Bor.-Am.' was written, there was no 

 suspicion of this being a true species in N. America; hence 

 Dr. Richardson noted that the young and old Snow-Geese were 

 said to go in separate flocks : this point, however, Mr. Barnston 

 {' Ibis,' vol. ii. p. 256) has perfectly cleared up by his labours in 

 the field ; while Mr. Cassin arrived at the same conclusion in the 

 museum. By the observations of the former, the " Blue Wavy" 

 (figured originally by Edwards) seems to prevail on the eastern 

 side of Hudson's Bay and in Labrador. I cannot trace it inland 

 to the westward. I have received two specimens from York 

 Factory, and, on careful comparison at the British Museum with 

 Mr. George Grey, can detect no difl'erence in form or size from 

 A. hyperboreus. The specimens, however, have every appearance 

 of being adults; and we miist take this as another example 

 of two species being undistinguishable except by colour. The 

 fact of the Blue Wavy being unknown in localities where the 

 Snow-Goose is common is perhaps the strongest argument in 

 favour of its existence as a species. For other distinctions I 

 refer to Mr. Barnston ('Ibis,' vol. ii. p. 256). 



Anser gambelii. 



The American "White-fronted or Laughing Goose appears, as 

 observed by Mr. Barnston, to be more an inland and western 

 species, being seldom found in the southern part of Hudson's 

 Bay. It is a common bird on the Saskatchawan in spring and 

 autumn, at which latter season it is to be found in immense 



