84 ISTATUEAL HISTOEY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



the base of the bill tlie feathers are mixed blackish and brown. Head and neck pale brown, 

 lightest on the neck. Back ashy brown, feathers edged with grayish brown. Eump dark brown. 

 The entire surface below is nearly uniform pale dingy-brown, much darker on the sides. The bill 

 is dull yellowish, bordered around the gape, nostrils, and along the ridge of culmen by dark horn- 

 color. The iris is dark hazel, surrounded by a dull yellow membrane. Feet and tarsi dingy 

 yellowish. 



During August and September the geese and many other wild fowl in the north feed upon 

 the abundant berries of that region and become very fat and tender. All through September, 

 old and young, which have been on the wing since August, gather in larger flocks, and as the sharp 

 frosts toward the end of September warn them of approaching winter, commence moving south. 

 The marshes resound with their cries, and after some days of chattering, flying back and forth, 

 and a general bustle, they suddenly start off in considerable flocks, and the few laggards which 

 remain get away by the 7th or 8th of October. 



Branta canadensis htjtchinsii (Sw. & Elch.). Hutchins's Goose (Esk. Tu- 

 talk-Tco-cMTc). 



The history of the present bird is but little known, aad most authors, since the time of the orig- 

 inal description, have referred to it under the name leucopareia. This must have been done in every 

 case from lack of proper material, as I hope to show in the following notes. Although this bird is 

 one of the commonest species on the Lower Yukon, yet, strangely enough, in their paper upon the 

 birds of Alaska, Messrs. Dall and Bannister did not record it from there, but simply note : " Two 

 specimens obtained by Bischoff at Sitka." These specimens are really occidentalis. At the Yukon 

 mouth and in the vicinity of Saint Michaels, I found this species arriving with the smaller minima 

 at the same dates and in about equal numbers at the Yukon mouth, but much less common at 

 Saint Michaels. From my observations I should decide the center of abundance of this species 

 to be along the Lower Yukon and thence south to the Kuskoquim. Its distribution appears to 

 be less general than that of the smaller form, whose habits it shares. In examining the National 

 Museum series of geese I find examples from Northern Illinois which are identical with the speci- 

 mens of hutchinsii from Alaska. In order to show the differences between the three forms as 

 j>lainly as possible, I give below a brief diagnosis of each, with measurements appended : 



fJanadennis. — A typical specimen from Northern Illinois. The well known, large, white cheek- 

 patches and black head and neck need only be referred to ; the entire back, including exposed 

 feathers of folded wings, is dark-grayish brown edged with lighter. The rump is black with white 

 upper tail-coverts, which form a ring about the tail by joining the white of abdomen. The dark 

 color of the back reaches forward to the sharply-defined edge of the black on the neck. Entire 

 lower surface from the edge of the black on the neck In front to tlie white of abdomen, pale-grayish 

 brown, pretty well defined posteriorly by the white area which occupies the abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts. Tail-feathers, 16. 



Hutchinsii. — A series from Alaska, California, and Northern Illinois. The main difference be- 

 tween this form and canadensis is the smaller size of the former. The color variations are mainly 

 limited to the abdomen and throat. The dorsal surface of hutchinsii is like that of canadensis, 

 with no point of variation I can observe. In hutchinsii the black of head and neck tends to as- 

 sume a glossier black, and the dark color very commonly encroaches upon the white cheek-patches, 

 frequently separating them by a broad, black throat- band. The main distinction , however, besides 

 the smaller size, is in the much lighter color of the lower surface. The white abdominal area ex- 

 tends forward and almost incloses the, thigh in some cases, and almost invariably there is no defi- 

 nite line of demarkation between the white and brown areas. In addition, the grayish brown of 

 the breast is very light, and the encroachment of the white upon its posterior border gives a mot- 

 tled gray and white surface. In some instances the white of abdomen extends anterior to the 

 middle of the body. There is rarely any sign of a white collar at the base of the black on the 

 neck either in this or the preceding. Tail feathers, 10. 



Minima. — Series from Alaska. Black of head and neck as in the preceding. The black en- 

 croaches upon the white cheek-patches even more extensively than in occidentalis, and the black 

 line along the throat is sometimes very broad. The back is usually somewhat darker than in 



