BIRDS — ANSEEINAE — BEENICLA LEUCOPAREIA. 



7G5 



the bill is shorter than the head. At present I do not see the way clear to do else than con- 

 sider them as one species, leaving it for further materials to decide the question. 



One specimen, 9554, irom Simiahmoo hay, is the smallest of all, and would he taken for 

 Bernida hutchinsii, but for the possession of eighteen tail feathers. In the yellowish color of 

 the under parts, the small bill and feet, and in its diminutive size, it approaches very closely to . 

 the Anser parvipes of Cassin from Vera Cruz, and may possibly represent the same form or 

 variety of B. canadensis, or even with it constiture a distinct species, which, however, I am 

 scarcely inclined at present to admit. 



List of specimens. . 



Catal. 



No. 



Sex. 



Locality. 



Carlisle, Peuu 



Potomac river, D. C 



Froutura, Texas 



Kio Kita, Laguna, N. M. 



Yellowstone 



Salt Lake 1 



Bodega, Cal 



Simiahmoo bay 



When col- 

 lected. 



Dec, 1843. 



Nov., 1853 



October 9.., 



Whence obtained. 



S. F. Baird . 

 do.... 



Major Emory 



Lieut. Whipple 



Lieut. Warren 



Capt. Stansbury... 

 Lieut. Trowbridge. 

 A. Campbell 



Collected by- 



J. H. Clark.. 

 Kenn. &M611.. 

 Dr. Hay den.. 



T. A. Szabo... 

 Dr. Kennerly. 



Length. 



35.00 

 37.50 



Stretch 

 of wing.s. 



63.50 



03.50 



Wing 



18.00 

 18.00 



BERNICLA LEUCOPAREIA, Cassin. 



Attur leucopareius, Brandt, Bull So. Acad, St. Petersb. 1, 1836, 37, (Aleutians.) — Is. Desc. et Icones Auim. Rose. Aves, 



faec. I,. 1836, 13; plate ii. 

 ? Bernicla leucopareia, Cassin, HI. I, 1855, 272 ; pi. xlv. 

 Anser canadensis, Pallas, Zoog. Rosso-As. II, 1811, 230. 



Sp. Ch. — Tail of eighteen feathers; general appearance that of .4. canadensis, but much darker; head and neck black, bounded 

 inferiorly by a well defined half ring of while on the throat; a white patch on each cheek, the two confluent below, triangulat 

 on the sides and truncate above ; the posterior outline perpendicular, tlie anterior eloping backwards behind the eye, almost 

 exactly as in A. canadensis ; there is a faint whitish patch on lower eyelids ; upper parts dark wood brown, turning gradually 

 nto black on the rump, tail and primary quills, each brown feather of the fore back akd wings with a rather paler edge. The 

 under parts are very dark brown, as dark as the back of -4. canadensis, paler along the middle of the belly, the sides as dark as 

 the back ; each feather has an obsolete margin of lighter ; the region round anus is white, abruptly defined against the brown of 

 the belly; the under and upper tail coverts are white; the bill is quite short, the culmen about half the tarsus, which is 

 decidedly longer than the middle toe. Length about 35 inches ; wing, 18 ; tarsus, 3.44 ; commissure, 1.90. 



Ilab. — West coast of America. 



This species closely resembles the Canada goose, and, like it, has 18 tail feathers. It is a little 

 smaller, however, and much darker, standing almost in the same relation to it that B. nigricans 

 does to B. brenta. The belly is as dark as the back of A. canadensis, the color abruptly defined 

 against the white about the anus. The white half ring round the neck is a conspicuous feature. 

 The bill is proportionally shorter, the culmen being only half the length of tarsus, while the 

 tarsus is longer, exceeding the middle toe, instead of being smaller by the length of the nail. 



This species agrees very well in its peculiar proportions of bill and tarsus witli B. leuoopareia 

 of Brandt, and quite well in color, excepting that in the latter, as described by Brandt, the white 



