144 GEESE 



of its perpetuation is largely one for the United States. If this is solved 

 and the necessary measures of protection accorded, this magnificent 

 species of our fauna will not perish from the earth but will continue to 

 grace our landscapes, delight the eye of the nature-lover, and provide 

 legitimate hunting to the sportsmen of the North American continent." 

 With reference to the occurrence of the Blue Goose with white bel- 

 lies, Sutton (1931) says: "Almost every thorough account which has 

 been written of the Blue Goose has included some reference to these 

 white-bellied birds. At the famous feeding grounds of the species at the 

 southern end of James Bay I personally saw many Blue Geese which 

 were so much blotched as to merit the term "piebald". . . . All these 

 birds with excess white in their plumage, I now believe to be hybrids. 

 They do not, as I see it, merely represent extremes in a species which 

 tends toward variableness in coloration. After all, among such species as 

 the Blue and Lesser Snow Goose, where hybridism is known to occur, it 

 is only logical to expect some noticeable external evidence of this hybri- 

 dism in the progeny." Harrold (1928) says: "With regard to a possible 

 explanation of the variability of the plumage of the Blue Goose, it is 

 interesting to note that in the main line of flight of this species, the 

 birds show little or no digression from the normal plumage, whereas at 

 the western edge .... of their range, variations are common. In other 

 words, if you see large flocks composed entirely (or nearly so) of the 

 Blues, the probability is that they are uniformly typical in plumage but 

 if small numbers of Blue are noticed in large flights of Lesser Snow, 

 variations will predominate." 



Ross's Goose 



Chen rossi 



(Chen rossii, of Peters) 

 (Chen, ros-i) 



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



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Chen, Greek, meaning a goose; rossi, after Bernard R. Ross (1827-74), who 

 was chief factor with the Hudson's Bay Co. and a correspondent of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. 



COLLOQUIAL NAMES 



IN LOCAL USE: China goose; galoot; horned wavy; little wavy; scabby-nosed 

 wavy; warty-nosed wavy. 



DESCRIPTION 



ADULTS, BOTH SEXES. Entire plumage snowy white, except primaries, 

 black (four outer ones emarginate at tips), coverts of primaries, grey; bill, car- 

 mine red or pale purplish, with salmon tinge, edges, black; nail, white; upper 

 mandible, corrugated, with warty protuberances near base; eye f dark brown; feet, 

 dull reddish, claws, black. 



