TULE GOOSE 123 



Tule Goose 



Anser albifrons gambelli 

 (an-ser, al-bi-frons, gam-bel-i) 



Colour Plate No. 4. Downy Young No. 32. 



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Anser, Latin, meaning a goose; albifrons, from Latin albus, meaning white, 

 and frons, meaning forehead, referring to the white front of this goose; gambelli, 

 after William Gambel, 1819-1849, a protege of Nuttall; he was one of the first 

 ornithologists to visit California. The vernacular name "Tule" (pronounced Tu-lee) 

 was bestowed on this goose from its habit of frequenting sloughs and ponds sur- 

 rounded by willows and tules. 



COLLOQUIAL NAMES 



IN GENERAL USE: Specklcbclly; specklebelly brant. IN LOCAL USE: Brant; California 

 goose; checkerbelly; checkbreast; China goose; gray brant; gray goose; gray wavy; 

 laughing goose; marbled-breast; mottled brant; mottled goose; one caille (quail 

 goose, probably because of the barred plumage); oie nonnette (nun goose, suggested 

 no doubt by the "white front"); pied brant; speckled brant; speckled goose; speckle- 

 breast; speckle-breasted brant; specklebreast goose; spotted brant; spotted goose; 

 Texas goose; timber goose; yellowlegged goose; yellow-legs. 



DESCRIPTION AND SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION 



ADULTS, BOTH SEXES. Identical with White-fronted Goose except (a) larger, 

 (b) darker in general coloration, (c) neck, darker brown and longer proportionally, 

 (d) head, dusky brown instead of brownish grey, (e) skin at edge of eyelid, 

 orange instead of greyish brown, (f) male normally has 18 tail-feathers while 

 male White front normally has 16; females of both species normally have 16. 



In an article on the variations in the differences between the Tule Goose 

 and the White-fronted Goose, A. M. Bailey, after 

 a careful examination of a large number of White- 

 fronted Geese, concluded that there was no uni- 

 formity in the colour of the eye-ring; some were 

 yellow, as has been given as a character of the 

 Tule Goose, some were dark, and others were a 

 rather light brown; fairly large birds were apt to 

 have the eye-ring brownish, while in smaller birds 

 s~*\ it was yellowish. \Vith regard to the number of 

 tail-feathers, while it is probable that the majority 

 of the male Tule Geese have eighteen tail-feathers, 

 this is not constant, and we find both a male and 

 a female of the smaller form with seventeen tail- 

 feathers. So it would seem that the differences be- 

 tween the two forms of White-fronts are only colour 

 Comparative bill sizes anf j s j ze 



Above, White-fronted Goose. 



Below, Tule Goose. JUVENILE. See White-fronted Goose. 



FIELD MARKS 



(Found, in winter, only in Upper Sacramento Valley, California.) 



