BIRDS OF INDIANA. 635 



are decidedly oval. In color they are a dull white, but ordinarily pre- 

 sent a dirty brown appearance from being stained in the nest. 



The young are pretty little objects, and are guarded with the great- 

 est care by the parents, the male and female joining in conducting 

 their young from place to place and defending them from danger/' 

 (Nelson, Eeport Nat. Hist. Coll. in Alaska.) 



27. GENUS BRAXTA SCOPOU. 



a 1 . Head black; cheeks and throat white. 



b l . Larger; length 35.00 or over. B. canadensia (LinnA 55 



//-. Smaller; length under 85.00. 



B. canadensis hutchinsii (Sw. & Rich.). 56 



a 2 . Throat black, or brownish black; white streaks or spots on each side of neck. 



B. bernicla (Linn. ). 57 



55. (H2). Branta canadensis (LINN). 



Canada Goose. 

 Synonym, COMMON WILD G< OSE. 



Adult Male. Head and neck black, with a broad white patch on 

 throat, extending up into each cheek; tail and quills black; upper tail 

 coverts white; upper part- lirmvnisli, the feathers with lighter tips: be- 

 low, light brownish-gray, almost white on crissum, all the feathers 

 with lighter edges; bill and feet, deep black. 



Length, about 35.00-43.00; wing, 15.60-21.00; bill, 1.58-2.70; tarsus, 

 2.45-3.70. 



RANGE. North America; breeds from Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee 

 northward from Mackenzie Valley to Atlantic Coast. Winters from 

 southern limit of breeding range south to Gulf States and into Mexico. 



Nest, usually in a hollow in the sand, lined with down, and a few 

 sticks around the edge. Along the upper Missouri it breeds in trees. 

 (Cones, B. X. W.) Eggs, 4-7; pale dull greenish; 3.55 by 2.27. 



Common migrant; sometimes winter resident in the northern part 

 of the State; resident in some numbers. They often breed. Formerly 

 these geese were much more abundant than now, but they are still 

 common during the migrations among the lakes and marshes of north- 

 ern Indiana. 



This is the common Wild Goose. Almost every mild winter more or 

 less of them remain in one part, if not another, of the lower Wabash 

 Valley. Mr. E. J. Chansler says a few years ago the prairies of Knox 

 County were covered with these geese many days during the winter. 

 They could be seen by thousands. Now they are seldom met with. 

 The winters of 1886-7 and 1892-3 they remained in the valley of the 



