[130] BIRDS OF OREGON 



White-fronted Goose; Speckle Breast; Gray Goose: 



Anser albifrons albifrons (Scopoli) 



DESCRIPTION. "Bill comparatively low at base, yellow or orange; feet orange or 

 reddish. Adults: face white, bordered with dusky; rest of head and neck, also 

 shoulders and chest, dark gray; belly and sides black or spotted with black, becoming 

 white posteriorly and on under tail coverts; back dusky gray. Young: without 

 white face or black on belly." (Bailey) Downy young: "The colors of the upper 

 parts, including the central crown, back, wings, rump, and flanks, vary from 'buffy 

 olive' to 'ecru olive,' darkest on the crown and rump and palest on the upper back, 

 with a yellowish sheen; there is a faint loral and postocular stripe of olive; on the 

 remainder of the head and neck the colors shade from 'olive ocher' on the forehead, 

 cheeks, and neck to 'colonial buff' on the throat; the colors on the under parts shade 

 from 'mustard yellow' on the breast to 'citron yellow' on the belly." (Bent) Si%e: 

 Length 17, wing 14.15-17.50, bill 1.80-1.35. (Bailey) Nest: A shallow depression, 

 lined with grass, feathers, and down. Eggs: 4 to 7, light buff to pale pinkish white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Yukon Valley east to Anderson River and also 

 in Greenland, Iceland, and Siberia. Winters in United States from southern British 

 Columbia and southern Illinois south to the Gulf and central Mexico. In Oregon: 

 Common migrant and less abundant winter resident that arrives in September and 

 remains until late April. 



THE FIRST RECORDED occurrence of the White-fronted Goose in Oregon is 

 Lewis and Clark's note (1814) that a few wintered in 1805-06 at the 

 mouth of the Columbia. Newberry (1857), Kerry (1874), an d Woodcock 

 (1901) are among those who reported it as a wintering species within the 

 State. It formerly remained in numbers in the Willamette Valley through 

 the winter; but in recent years it has decreased and at present stays 

 sporadically in small numbers during that season in the Willamette Val- 

 ley and along the Columbia River near Portland. It is most abundant in 

 October, November, March, and April (earliest date, September 2., Mult- 

 nomah County; latest, May 18, Klamath County). It is now apparently 

 rare on the coast, the only recent record being that of Alex Walker, who 

 collected one in Tillamook County, September 15, 192.1. 



Most of the published records of this species refer to migrant birds in 

 the four months mentioned above, although Merrill (1888) stated thatio 

 birds remained at Fort Klamath until June 3, 1887. Perhaps no better 

 evidence of the former abundance of these and other waterfowl can be 

 given than to quote Merrill's statement regarding the flight: 



Very common in April, the main flight occurring between the zoth and the 3oth, and many 

 flocks stopping to feed in the grassy meadows bordering the marsh. The upper part of the 

 valley is enclosed on the west and north by the main divide of the Cascade Mountains, and 

 on the east by a spur from the same range, all averaging a height of over 6,500 feet. On 

 stormy days, if the wind was not blowing from the south, Geese flying low up the valley had 

 great difficulty in rising sufficiently to cross the abrupt divide, and most of them would 

 return to the marsh and its vicinity to wait for a more favorable opportunity. At such times 

 Geese of this and the next species [Canada Geese] gathered by thousands and afforded great 

 sport. The immense numbers of these birds that migrate through Western Oregon cannot be 



