

LESSER SNOW GOOSE. 



Chen hyperhorea (Pall.). 



The adult is entirely white, except the primaries, or 

 quill feathers of the first joint of the wing, which are 

 black, changing to ash gray at the base. The bill is 

 dark red, with black line along the margin of man- 

 dibles; the nail white; the legs and feet red; length, 

 about 25 inches; wing, 15 1-2. In the young the head, 

 neck and upper parts are pale grayish, with the wing 

 coverts and tertiary feathers brown, edged with white. 

 The primaries are black, and the rest of the upper parts 

 white. The bill and feet are dark. 



The true snow goose is a bird of Western distribu- 

 tion, reaching from the Mississippi Valley westward to 



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