BLUE GOOSE 



137 



with whitish, shorter and less plume-like than those of adult; primaries and 

 secondaries duller and browner black. Tertials either plain dusky brown or less 

 conspicuously marked than those of adults. 



During winter and spring the plumage matures rapidly by a continuous moult 

 and, after the first summer moult, is fully adult. 



SPECIMEN IDENTIFICATION 



ADULTS. General effect: A medium-sized goose, with dusky-grey and brown 

 upperparts, and white head and neck. Chief distinguishing features (a) white 

 head and neck, (b) pinkish bill, with broad black "grinning" patch, (c) greyish- 

 blue wing-covert; inner greater coverts, long and plume-like. 



The white head and neck, with dark body, separates the Blue Goose from 



all other geese; somewhat like the Emperor Goose, 

 but that species has a black foreneck and lacks 

 the "grinning" patch on bill. 



JUVENILES. May be confused with juvenile 

 White-fronted Goose but the latter species has 

 yellowish feet and lacks the black "grinning" patch. 

 See "Description." 



FIELD MARKS 



Winters on coast of Louisiana and migrates through Mississippi Valley, Manitoba 

 and James Boy. 



ON THE WATER. A medium-sized goose, 

 readily identified by its white head and neck, and 

 its dark body, features unique among goose and 

 which are noticeable at considerable distance. 

 The black foreneck of the Emperor Geese dis- 

 tinguishes that species. 



IN FLIGHT. They fly in a broken mixture 

 of V's, bars, curves and irregular lines; the white 

 head and neck, and dark body make identifica- 

 tion easy. On migration they are often found 

 associated with the Lesser Snow Geese; the dark 

 bird in the snow-white flock is invariably a Blue 

 Goose. 



VOICE. A high-pitched, guop; conversational, 

 ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga. The occasional clear whistle is 

 the call of the young bird. 



LIFE STORY 



"The Blue Goose, while far from being the largest, is one of the 

 most distinctive of the North American geese; this with its long-mysteri- 

 ous pilgrimages into unknown realms of the Arctic wilderness, lent to it 

 an interest and charm in the minds of ornithologists unequalled by any 

 other member of the family. Its characteristic markings the dark body 



