ANSERT'K — THE GEESE — CHEN. 



437 



times reachcH to tlie crown. Tln' hrinlit orniiKe-rufouH tingi? to the ontorior portion of the liwul, 

 l)L'iii}{ nn arfifieiul Htiun, is fmiiiuiitly t-ntiri'ly nWiit. Tlie color of the nlxloinon also viirics from 

 iieiirly piire white to ii tint Imnlly jxilir than liie l»n'u.Mt ; tlie rump in aluo Honu'tinitr*, Imt rnvlv, 

 entirely white, while occasionuUy while I'eutherH are irreguhirly interspersed ainonj,' the dark 

 feathers of the l)o(ly. 



In both the ailull and young utagea of this (Joose the itluninge is so very distinct from that of 

 U. hiiprrhoreiis that there is no (lerasiDU for confounding the two when the points of distinction are 

 understood. We are uualde, however, to 

 find tlie slightest difference in the details 

 of form or in proportions — a fact wliich 

 suggests the mere possilijlity of their be- 

 ing white and colored phases of the same 

 Hjiccies, as in some Herons ; but we do 

 not consider this as at all probable, al- 

 tliough in view of their similarity of fnrni 

 and size, and that the chief variations 

 area tendency toward partial albinism,* 

 the possibility of such a relationship 

 sliould be borne in mind. 



This form, once su])pose(l to be 

 the young of the Snow Goose, is 

 now regarded as au cntirt'ly good 

 and dis 'inct species. Mr. G. liarns- 

 toii, in liis valuable paper on the 

 ticese of Hudson's Hay, referring 

 to the prevalent supposition that 

 this species and the A. hijin '■'^'•"m.s 

 arc mere varieties, because of the 

 tricndly intercourse that exists be- 

 tween them, is positive that this 

 l)elief is not well founded. The 

 young of the hi/jterhoreuit arrive 

 from the north with their parents 

 without any intermixture of other 

 (Jeese in their Hocks. They liave 

 the same white garb as the old birds, 

 i)ut with their In^ads as if soih'd 

 with iron-rust, and with a bill, ten- 

 der, soft, and compressible. On the other hand, the rn'rulfsrena comes down upon 

 tlie eastern coast also in perfectly distinct flocks, the young birds having a more 



1 A specimen figured in the " Trnnsactioiis " of the t'hicngo Academy of .Sciences, Vol. I. 1869, pi. 18, 

 liiis the whole umler jiarts, ]H)sterior to the juguluni, puri' white. Wis have also seen examples in which 

 not only the nMonien, but also the ninip, was wliitc ; while, as noted alxive, white fentlicrs are sometimes 

 interspei-scd irregularly in the dark phniiage of the Inxly. There is also siiniethiiig very "unsatisfactory" 

 or suspicious in the irregular, variable, and uiuiecided way in which the white of the nock joins upon the 

 dark color below it. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, of Chicago, who has enjoyed the advantage of inspecting very numerous specimens 

 ill the markets of that great game centre, writes as follows (Hull. "Nutt. Oiu. Club," VIII. 1878, p. 137) 

 with reganl to the changes of plumage in this species : — 



"The adults of this species invariably im>ssc8S the white head nnd upper part of the neck, which in 

 the younger specimens is more or less variegated with dark feathers. These ■'' -Mipear as the bird becomes 

 older ; and in many the head is a pure snowy white, in sharp contrast to i nluniage of the rest of 





