12 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 12 



sion heretofore existing in regard to the respective summer habitats 

 of canadensis and occidentals was of exactly the same nature, and it 

 accordingly seems probable that if the two northern forms could also 

 be given more careful and critical study than has heretofore been 

 accorded them, many of the discrepancies now apparent could be satis- 

 factorily explained. 



Nelson (1887, p. 84) gives the center of abundance of hutchinsi 

 as along the lower Yukon and from there south to the Kuskoquim; 

 of minima (1. c, p. 86), as along the Alaskan coast of Bering Sea, 

 north to Point Barrow, and extending far inland up the rivers. Cooke 

 (1906, p. 77) gives the summer home of hutchinsi a.s including the 

 Alaskan shores of Bering Sea, and also the western Aleutian and the 

 Near islands, exactly the same range as is ascribed to minima (1. c, 

 p. 78). 



Such statements as these are hard to comprehend if the birds are 

 to be considered as two races of the same form, but there are so many 

 chances for error, or for misunderstanding of data, that it seems 

 almost certain that further careful work will demonstrate that the 

 two forms do actually occupy separate and well-defined areas during 

 the breeding season. It is certainly possible for migrating individuals 

 of one form to have been captured upon the summer home of the 

 other, while the variation in color and patterns in both forms is so 

 great that there is chance for error in identification unless specimens 

 be secured and examined with great care. 



There appears to be a dearth of definite data bearing upon the 

 question. The two statements cited above are of a general nature, 

 and are not supported by mention or description of particular speci- 

 mens to uphold the ideas expressed. In fact there seems to be but few 

 instances in which this has been done. Clark (1910, p. 47) gives 

 hutchinsi as the breeding goose of Agattu and Attu islands. Although 

 specimens were not saved, descriptions are given of some which were 

 shot and thrown away, descriptions which, as regards color and pat- 

 tern, fit minima very well, though the dimensions given are certainly 

 large for that form. 



Bent (1912, p. 13) identifies a breeding goose from Attu Island 

 as minima. Thus the statements in regard to the respective breeding 

 ranges of hutchinsi and minima are seen to be contradictory and con- 

 fusing; but, as stated above, this may well have arisen through mis- 

 understanding of data, or misinterpretation of characters. Where we 

 do possess more exact and abundant data, as in regard to the more 



