40 DUCK SHOOTING. 



different in some South American and Old World 

 species. 



In the sub-family are included the dozen species and 

 sub-species of geese found in North America. They 

 are divided into four genera, two of which contain a 

 single species each, the others several each. One genus 

 is almost confined to Alaska, while another has a gen- 

 eral distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. The 

 snow goose and its forms and the blue goose have a 

 wide range, while little is known about that of Ross's 

 goose. The dark-colored or gray geese, included in the 

 genus Branta, are very abundant along both coasts of 

 the continent, yet are by no means lacking in the in- 

 terior. They include the common Canada goose, with 

 its forms, and the barnacle and brant geese. The brant 

 and its Western relative, the black brant, are chiefly 

 maritime in habit, and are seldom found in the interior. 

 On the other hand, the snow goose, and some of its 

 forms, are regular visitants to certain points on the At- 

 lantic coast. A few years ago a flock of these birds was 

 always to be found in winter in the mouth of the Dela- 

 ware River. Stray birds are sometimes seen on the 

 New England coast and on Long Island. On the beach 

 which lies outside of Currituck Sound a flock of five 

 hundred or a thousand of these birds is found each win- 

 ter. 



The gray geese, so called, all have the bills, feet, head 

 and neck black. There are patches or touches of white 

 about the cheeks or throat, whence they have been called 

 cravat geese; the upper parts of the body are dark gray 



