﻿2 
  26 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  definite 
  proof. 
  This 
  species 
  appears 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  from 
  the 
  loth 
  to 
  the 
  20th 
  

   of 
  March 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  commonest 
  about 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  April 
  and 
  usually 
  passes 
  

   northward 
  before 
  the 
  ist 
  of 
  May. 
  It 
  returns 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  from 
  September 
  

   25th 
  to 
  October 
  15th 
  and 
  passes 
  southward 
  from 
  November 
  ist 
  to 
  20th. 
  

   This 
  species 
  is 
  found 
  breeding 
  in 
  such 
  widely 
  separated 
  localities 
  as 
  Ungava, 
  

   Great 
  Slave 
  lake, 
  Lower 
  California, 
  Guatemala, 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  and 
  Cape 
  Cod. 
  

   Its 
  principal 
  summer 
  home, 
  however, 
  is 
  from 
  Dakota 
  to 
  the 
  Saskatchewan. 
  

   This 
  curious 
  little 
  duck 
  is 
  so 
  unlike 
  our 
  other 
  sea 
  ducks, 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  

   structure 
  of 
  its 
  bill, 
  its 
  general 
  build, 
  its 
  spiny 
  tail 
  and 
  its 
  habits 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  

   been 
  given 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  local 
  names, 
  according 
  to 
  Trumbull 
  and 
  Coues, 
  

   reaching 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  60 
  and 
  upward. 
  Many 
  systematists 
  likewise 
  would 
  make 
  

   it 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  a 
  subfamily 
  (Erismaturinae) 
  . 
  Its 
  colloquial 
  names 
  tell 
  its 
  

   natural 
  history 
  from 
  the 
  gunner's 
  standpoint 
  : 
  Dumpling 
  duck. 
  Butter 
  duck, 
  

   Deaf 
  duck, 
  Sleepy-head, 
  Diving 
  teal. 
  Widgeon-coot, 
  Booby-coot, 
  Bumblebee- 
  

   coot, 
  Bristle-tail, 
  Spoon-billed 
  butterball, 
  Broad-billed 
  dipper, 
  Hickory- 
  

   head, 
  Shot 
  -pouch, 
  Chunk 
  duck 
  (western 
  New 
  York), 
  Paddy-whack, 
  and 
  

   40 
  others. 
  

  

  Chen 
  hyperborea 
  hyperborea 
  (Pallas) 
  

  

  Lesser 
  Snow 
  Goose 
  

  

  Anser 
  hyperboreus 
  Pallas. 
  Spicil. 
  Zool. 
  1769. 
  6:25 
  

  

  Chen 
  hyperborea 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  169 
  

  

  cJien, 
  Gr 
  xw- 
  goose; 
  hyperborea, 
  Lat., 
  hyperborean, 
  far 
  northern 
  

  

  Distinguishing 
  marks. 
  Differs 
  from 
  the 
  Greater 
  snow 
  goose 
  only 
  in 
  size; 
  

   from 
  the 
  Blue 
  goose 
  as 
  noted 
  under 
  that 
  species. 
  

  

  Length 
  24-26 
  inches; 
  wing 
  i4.5-i7;tail 
  5.5; 
  tarsus 
  2.75-3.3; 
  bill 
  2-2.15. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Professor 
  Cooke, 
  [Biol. 
  Sur. 
  Bui. 
  26, 
  p. 
  65-67], 
  this 
  species 
  

   is 
  confined 
  principally 
  to 
  the 
  region 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  river 
  during 
  

   migration, 
  winters 
  most 
  abundantly 
  from 
  Louisiana 
  to 
  Texas 
  and 
  Mexico, 
  

   and 
  probably 
  breeds 
  on 
  the 
  islands 
  of 
  the 
  Arctic 
  ocean, 
  "immediately 
  to 
  

   the 
  north 
  of 
  Banks 
  Land." 
  

  

  In 
  Mr 
  Dutcher's 
  Long 
  Island 
  collection 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  specimens 
  of 
  

   Snow 
  geese, 
  no. 
  107 
  and 
  1200, 
  both 
  immature, 
  which 
  fall 
  within 
  the 
  dimen- 
  

  

  