EMPEROR GOOSE. 73 



In the adult emperor goose the head and back of the 

 neck are white; the front and sides of the throat and 

 neck are brownish-black, slightly spotted with white; 

 the tail is slate-color at the base and white at the end ; 

 the rest of the plumage is bluish, each feather having 

 at its end a narrow bar of white, bordered by a crescent- 

 shaped black marking. The secondary feathers of the 

 wing are slaty-black, margined with white; the long 

 quills black. The bill is bluish or purplish; the nail 

 white, darker at the edges, and the legs and feet bright 

 yellow. 



The young are similar to the adult, but have the head 

 and neck lead color, sometimes sprinkled with white. 



All the explorers of Alaska have found this species 

 more or less abundant in that territory. It also occurs 

 on some of the islands of the Bering Sea, as well as on 

 the Commander Islands, on the Siberian coast. Mr. 

 H. W. Elliot tells us that flocks sometimes land on the 

 Pribilof Islands in an exhausted condition, so that the 

 natives run them down on the grass, the birds being 

 unable to fly. Mr. Dall speaks of the exceedingly 

 strong odor of garlic proceeding from the raw flesh and 

 skin, and says that this odor makes the work of skin- 

 ning the birds very disagreeable. With cooking, the 

 smell disappears. 



The emperor geese breed on the flat, marshy islands 

 of the Alaskan coast, the nest sometimes being placed 

 amid the driftwood, even below high- water mark. Like 

 most other geese, the female covers the eggs with down 

 from her breast. 



