58 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 
A fine specimen was taken in Minnehaha County and 
sent to the Museum in 1916 by Mr. C. J. Stringham of Sioux 
Falls. 
170. Ross’s Goose (Chen rossi.) 
A straggler in South Dakota, but specimens were taken 
in Miner County in 1890 by Mr. F. A. Patton. 
The Ross Snow Goose is much like the Snow Goose in 
color but the bird is smaller, and the bill noticeably shorter. 
171a. Whuite-FrRontTED Goose (Anser albifrons gambeli.) 
| Size of 169.1. Forehead white; back gray; breast and un- 
der parts light gray spotted with black. 
172. Canavba Goose (Branta canadensis canadensis.) 
The Canada Goose is the species most popularly known 
as the “Wild Goose” and has always nested in the State. 
It is the largest of the Goose family, the last to go south 
and the first to come north in migration. The loud “honk, honk,” 
is the foreword of spring. In the southern part of the State the 
Canada Goose remains until January, or until the last “airholes” 
freeze over in the Missouri River. In these they rest during the 
night and much of the day. At daybreak they can usually be 
seen going out to their feeding grounds. 
Length up to forty inches; head and neck black, except 
throat and cheeks, which are white; body bluish gray but lighter 
underneath. 
172a. Hutcuins’s Goose (Branta canadensis hutchinsi.) 
Similar to 172 but smaller. Length about thirty inches. 
Seen only in migration. Breeds in the Arctic regions. 
172c. CAcKLING Goose (Branta canadensis minima.) 
Similar to 172a but smaller, with black throat. 
Length twenty-four inches. A western variety; breeds 
in Alaska; migrant in South Dakota. 
173a. Brant (Branta bernicla glaucogastra.) 
A rare straggler in our State; breeds in Alaska and mi- 
grates east of this territory. Head and breast black; white 
patches on sides of neck; back gray; under parts nearly white. 
