JAN., 1909. BIRDS OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN CORY. 347 



Special characters, adult male: Front of head and face, black; 

 back of head and neck, rich rufous brown, shading into pale chest- 

 nut, or tawny brown on the under 

 parts; basal portion of wing coverts, 

 white, forming a white patch on the 

 wing; primaries, brown; feathers of 

 the back, black, edged with rufous 

 brown; tail, black, the feathers stiff 

 and pointed; axillars, white; upper 



mandible, light blue in life, showing a narrow middle stripe of black; 

 feet, gray. 



Adult female: Top of the head, and a stripe through the eye, 

 and a cheek stripe, black, or brownish black; rest of the head, and 

 upper throat, pale buff color, whitish on the chin; breast, tawny, 

 mottled with black; rest of under parts, washed with tawny brown, 

 shading into grayish on the abdomen; back, dark brown, the feathers 

 tipped with pale brown, or tawny brown; wings and tail, as in the 

 male; axillars, white. 



This tropical species has been taken in Wisconsin; the record is 

 as follows: "A single female was procured by Thure Kumlien, on 

 Rock River near Newville, November, 1870, and is now preserved 

 in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History." (Kum- 

 lien and Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 27.) 



Subfamily ANSERINE. Geese. 



Geese are gregarious, especially during migrations. When flying 

 the flock assumes a V-shaped form and is led (it is claimed) by an old 

 gander. They feed principally upon roots, seeds of aquatic plants, 

 and grain and are often found in the grain fields in large numbers. 

 The sexes are similar. 



Genus CHEN Boie. 

 68. Chen hyperborea (PALL.). 



LESSER SNOW GOOSE. 

 Local name: White Brant. 



Distr.: North America, breeds from Melville Peninsula to Vic- 

 toria Land and probably north to latitude 74; winters from southern 

 Illinois, lower Mississippi Valley, Louisiana, and Texas to Mexico and 

 Guatemala, casually to New England. 



