Goose-shooting 251 



Young — Cheeks, spotted with black ; wing-coverts and feathers of 

 back, tinged with rufous ; flanks, barred with gray. 



Habitat — Breeds in the northern part of the eastern hemisphere as 

 far north as Spitzbergen. Winters in Great Britain and western 

 Europe, occurring south to Spain. Occurs in Iceland and so 

 regularly in Greenland that it has been thought to breed there, 

 and it has been recorded on the North American continent from 

 Hudson Bay, Nova Scotia (doubtless escaped from captivity), 

 Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, and North Carolina. 



The barnacle goose is only accidental in North 

 America, and it is a matter of doubt if most of the 

 specimens taken along our shores have not escaped 

 from confinement. A barnacle goose, and the first 

 one procured, was taken at Rupert House, on the 

 southern end of Hudson Bay, by Mr. B. R. Ross, 

 undoubtedly a straggler from Greenland. It has 

 also been taken in Nova Scotia, Long Island, and 

 Currituck Sound, North Carolina. This goose is 

 about the size of a brant and is a handsomer bird 

 than the other species. It passes much of its time 

 on land and is specially noisy when feeding and 

 on the wing. Little is known about the breeding 

 habits, but the eggs are said to be of a yellowish 

 cream color. Birds of this species have been 

 known to live thirty-two years in captivity. 



EMPEROR GOOSE 



(JPhilade canagicd) 



Adult male and female — Head and neck, white, stained, especially 

 in front, with rusty ; throat and neck frontally, brownish black 

 or dusky gray ; feathers on lower neck, tipped slightly with 



