ANSERIN.E — THE GEESE — CHEN. 



445 



slif;btly rugose, with longitudinal sulcations, littlii if any mori; distinct than in C.hyperboreus. (See 

 accompanying cuts.) 



Specimen No. 41705, from Great Slave Lake, probably an immature individual, is exceptional 

 in having the secondary quills deep black, tipped with white, the plumage of the nape and anal 

 region slightly verging toward ashy, the nail of 

 the bill black, tipped with white. In all other 

 respects than those mentioned, the appearance is 

 that of an adult bird ; aud these difl'erences would 

 seem to indicate a rather different transition plu- 

 mage from youth to maturity than in the A. hyper- 

 boreus. 



Hearne, in his " Journey to the Northern 

 Ocean," refers to a small Goose which was 

 undoubtedly this species. He calls it the 

 "Horned Wavey," probably from the carun- 

 cles at the base of the bill ; and he describes 

 it as follows : "This delicate and diminutive 

 species of the Goose is not nuicli larger than 

 the Mallard Duck. Its plumage is deli- 

 cately white, except the quill-feathers, which 

 are black. The bill is not more than an inch 

 long, and at the base is studded round with 

 little knobs about the size of peas, but more 

 remarkably so in the male. Both the bill 

 and the feet are of the same color with those 

 of the Snow Goose. This species is very 

 scarce at Churchill Eiver, and I believe are 

 never found at any of the southern settle- 

 ments ; but about two or three hundred miles to the northwest of Churchill I have 

 seen them in as large flocks as the Common Wavey or Snow Goose. The flesh of this 

 is exceedingly delicate, but they are so small that when I was on my journey to the 

 north I ate two of them one night for supper." Hearne adds that this species was 



not described by Pennant in his "Arctic Zoology" — probably for the reason that the 

 person who presided at Fort Prince of Wales at the time the collection was making, 

 did not pay any attention to its completeness. According to Hearne, the Indians had 

 never met with any of the eggs of this species, and he conjectured that these birds 

 retired to North Greenland to breed. Their route in the fall of the year, as they 



