54 I^UCK SHOOTim. 



bill, legs and feet, pinkish; the nail of the bill white; 

 length, 28 inches; wing, over 15. The young closely re- 

 sembles the adult, but lacks the white about the bill, this 

 part being dark brown ; it has no black blotches on the 

 lower parts. The nail of the bill is blackish. 



The white-fronted goose is found in the northern 

 parts of both the Old and the New World, though the 

 two forms are separated by many ornithologists and 

 made different races. The American bird is slightly 

 larger than that of Europe, but the difference is small, 

 and size is the only distinction. At all events, for the 

 purposes of the gunner, they may be considered a single 

 species. The white-fronted goose is generally distrib- 

 uted throughout this country from the far north to our 

 southern border, but is rare on the Atlantic coast. A 

 specimen was taken recently in Currituck Sound. N. 

 C, but none of the local gunners, knew what it was. 

 The species occurs in Cuba as well as in Greenland. 



In all the Mississippi Valley region it is abundant 

 during the migrations, where it is known as laughing 

 goose, speckled belly, harlequin brant, pied brant, 

 prairie brant, and often simply as brant. It is abundant 

 also in California, and occurs in large numbers as far 

 south as Southern California. In summer the white- 

 fronted goose is found in Alaska, where some breed, 

 and in great numbers on the islands of the Arctic 

 Ocean. All northern explorers report it as abundant on 

 the Mackenzie and throughout the country bordering 

 the Barren Lands. In America it appears to be gen- 

 erally a bird of western distribution. 



