era Oregon, at any rate, and possibly on the higher 

 mountain lakes as far south as Mexico, for they seem 

 to make their appearance on the Coast shooting grounds 

 of Mexico nearly, if not quite, as early as they do here. 



The flesh of the Canada goose is the equal if not the 

 superior of the tame goose. Its flight, except when mi- 

 grating long distances, is generally low, and in such 

 cases it can be called by the hunter to within shooting 

 distance. 



Color Head and neck, black, with a white stripe run- 

 ning from the chin back of the eye to near the top of 

 the head; upper parts, dark brownish gray; breast, 

 dull, light gray, grading into white at the abdomen; 

 tail and wings, black. Both sexes alike. 



Eggs and Nest The nest is generally built of sticks 

 and grass, lined with feathers, and either in the marshes 

 or on the banks of a stream, and rarely if ever con- 

 tain more than six or seven, and often not more than 

 four, eggs of a very light brownish white. 



Measurements Wing, about 19 inches; bill, about 

 1% inches. 



THE WHITE-CHEEKED GOOSE 

 (Branta canadensis occidentalis) 



The white-cheeked goose, known also as Mexican 

 goose, is found only on the Pacific Coast and never east 

 of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon, or the 

 Sierra Nevadas in California. In fact, they are gen- 

 erally confined to localities not far from the ocean. 

 While both the honker and the Hutchins goose have a 

 white cheek, the white of the honker meets under the 

 chin or blends into a gray, but the white of the white- 

 cheeked variety is separated either with a distinct black 

 stripe under the chin or a mottled black and white one. 

 Also the black of the neck of the white-cheeked goose 

 and the brownish gray of the breast is very generally 

 separated by a white collar, though sometimes this is 

 so faint as to be almost indistinguishable. 



The white-cheeked goose is rarely seen south of 

 Monterey Bay, California. 



Color Same as the Canada goose, except that the 

 white on the cheeks is either separated under the chin 

 by a black stripe or by only a very few white feathers in 

 the black. Between the neck and the dull gray of the 

 breast is a narrow white stripe, or collar. This some 

 times is very faint, and, in fact, some times, though 

 very rarely, absent. This absence of the collar is quite 

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