LESSER SNOW GOOSE 



127 



Lesser Snow Goose 



Chen hyperborea hyperborea 



(Chen hyperborea, of Peters) 



(Chen, hi-per-bo-re-a) 



Colour Plate No. 5. Downy Young No. 32. 



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Chen, Greek, meaning a goose; hyperborea, from Latin hyperboreus, meaning, 

 beyond the north wind. 



COLLOQUIAL NAMES 



IN GENERAL USE: White brant; brant. IN LOCAL USE: Alaska goose; arctic goose; 

 bald brant; Canadian goose; common wavy; Mexican goose; oie blanche (white 

 goose); oie sauvage (wild goose); red goose; wavy; white wavy; white goose. 



DESCRIPTION 



ADULTS, BOTH SEXES. Entire plumage, white, except primaries, black with 

 grey bases, three outer ones emarginate at tips; coverts of primaries, grey. Head and 

 breast, often stained with rusty brown; bill, pink to carmine red, with whitish 

 nail, shorter than head, high at base and narrow; nostril in basal half; broad black 

 area between closed mandibles known as "grinning patch"; eye, brown to dark 

 brown; jeet, dull lake red; claws, black. 



JUVENILE. In first autumn general colour is grey, darker above and lighter 

 below. Head and neck, mottled with brownish grey or dusky, faintly below, more 

 heavily above, often stained rusty. Back and scapulars, ashy grey with lighter edges 

 to feathers; rump, white; breast, washed or finely sprinkled with greyish and often 

 stained rusty. Tail and its coverts, white. Primaries, slaty, shading to blackish at 

 tips; secondaries, dusky, with lighter edges; wing coverts, ashy grey with lighter 

 feather-edgings. Bill, dusky, becoming more pinkish 

 through winter. During winter and spring much progress 

 is made toward maturity by continuous moult. After 

 first summer moult plumage is fully adult. 



SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION 



ADULTS. General effect: A medium-sized goose, 

 all-white, except for black wing-tips. Chief distin- 

 guishing features (a) white plumage with black pri- 

 maries and grey primary coverts, (b) reddish bill, with 

 broad black "grinning patch." 



The Greater Snow Goose is identical with the form 

 described but is generally a larger, heavier, chunkier 

 bird, with thicker neck and larger head and bill; as 

 the two races intergrade in size, positive identification 

 is difficult. The tiny Ross's Goose is similar in general 

 coloration but can be separated by its very small size, 

 warty protuberances on bill, and lack of black "grinning 

 patch." Features (a) and (b) will separate from all 

 other geese. 



Comparative size of bills. 



A bove, Lesser Snow 



Goose. Below, Greater 



Snow Goose. 



