AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 97 







GENUS ANSER BRISSON. 

 ANSER ALBIFRONS GAMBELI (HARTL.). 



63. American White-fronted Goose. (171a) 



Tail, 'normally of sixteen feathers ; bill, smooth, the laminse moderately 

 exposed. Adult: Bill, pink, pale lake or carmine; nails, white; feet, yellow; 

 claws, white. A white band along base of upper mandible, bordered behind by 

 blackish ; upper tail coverts, white ; under parts, whitish, blotched with black ; 

 sides of the rump and crissum, white ; head and neck, grayish-brown, shading 

 lighter as it joins the breast ; back, dark gray, the feathers tipped with brown ; 

 greater coverts and secondaries, bordered with whitish ; primaries and coverts, 

 edged and tipped with white ; shaft of quills, white. Young: Prevailing color, 

 brown ; no white on the forehead, which is darker than the rest of the head ; no 

 black on under parts. Length, about 27 inches; wing, 16; tail, 5; tarsus, 2.75. 



HAB. North America ; south to Cuba and Mexico. 



Nest, a depression in the sand, lined with hay, feathers and down. 



Eggs, six or seven, smooth, dull yellowish, with an olive shade, marked in 

 places with a darker tint. 



This, like the preceding species, is only a casual visitor in Ontario, 

 the vast flocks which annually leave their breeding grounds in the 

 north at the approach of winter evidently preferring to make their 

 journey along the western coast rather than by the Atlantic or 

 through the interior. Stragglers have been observed at the various 

 shooting stations, where they are considered rare. The specimen in 

 my collection was shot at the St. Clair Flats, and is an immature 

 male. 



Speaking of this species in the "Birds of Alaska," Nelson says: 

 " In early seasons the first White-fronted Goose reaches St. Michael's 

 about April 27th, but the usual time is from the 5th to the 8th of 

 May. From about the 10th of May they are very common, and 

 remain to breed in considerable numbers all along the Alaskan shore 

 of Behring Sea and on the Arctic coast of Point Barrow, where they 

 are plentiful, arriving the latter half of May." 



" During the summer of 1881, a number were found breeding 

 upon St. Lawrence Island, and they also nest on the Siberian shore 

 in the vicinity of Behring Strait. 



" During the migrations, they occur at various points along the 

 Aleutian chain, but are not known to breed there. Dall found their 

 eggs all along the Yukon, from Fort Yukon to the sea, and it is well 

 known as a widely spread species, breeding all around the Arctic 

 mainland portions of America." 



