548 ANSEE HYPERBOREUS, SNOW GOOSE. 



myself witnessed this method of hunting, I should judge the gunners 

 killed a great many Geese, since they talk of its "raining geese" after 

 a double discharge of the tremendous guns they are in the habit of 

 using. Man's ingenuity overreaches any bird's sagacity, no doubt, yet 

 the very fact that the Geese, which would fly from a horse, do not 

 yet fear an ox, argues for them powers of discrimination that command 

 our admiration. 



The White-fronted Goose is said to leave the United States at the 

 same time as the Snow, and a little before the Canadian, and to migrate 

 apart from other kinds. According to Richardson, it breeds in woody 

 districts north of the 67th parallel, and thence to the Arctic Ocean. 

 Mr. Dall says it is extremely common on the Yukon, arriving at Nulato 

 about May 6 to 10, and breeding all along the river, from Fort Yukon 

 to the sea, gregariously, laying from six to ten eggs in a depression in 

 the sand, without any kind of nest or lining. A set of eggs in the Smith- 

 sonian, selected for description, contains seven ; the accompanying label 

 states that the nest was lined with down and feathers. There are con- 

 siderable differences in the seven in respect of size and shape ; the 

 greatest variation was between two that measured respectively 3.30 by 

 2.10 and 2.90 by 2.10. This constancy of the minor axis, with the varia- 

 tion of the major, results in a great discrepancy in shape. In general 

 the eggs are nearly elliptical, one end being scarcely larger than the 

 other. The shell is perfectly smooth, and dull yellowish in color, with 

 a shade of greenish, obscurely marked in places with a darker tint, as 

 if soiled, or with an oily discoloration. Out of a large number examined, 

 I found none so small as to correspond with Audubon's measurements, 

 viz : 2| by If; he may have had an egg of another species before him, 

 but the color is as he says. 



As attested by observers along the Pacific coast, the numbers of 

 White-fronted Geese wintering there are out of all proportion to those 

 which visit other parts of the United States. They are particularly rare 

 on the Atlantic coast, where they have not to my knowledge been traced 

 beyond Massachusetts. In the interior, according to Audubon, they are 

 often and regularly seen, even reaching Xew Orleans. He states that 

 in Kentucky they generally arrive and depart before the Canada Goose, 

 along with the Snow Goose, but in separate flockti. I have myself never 

 recognized them in the Mississippi or Missouri logions, nor seen them 

 anywhere further eastward. 



AIn^SER HYPERBOREUS, Pall. 

 Snow Goose; White Brant. 



a. hyperborem. 



Anser hyperboreus, Pall., Spic. Zool. viii, 1767, 80, 25, pi. 65; Zoog. R.-A. ii, Ir'll, 2-27.— 

 ViEHL., Enc. Jleth. 1823. 112.— Steph., Gen. Zool. xii, pt. ii, 1824, :i3.— Bp., 

 Syn. 1828, 376.— Sw. & Rich., F. B. A, ii, 1831, 467.-Nutt:, Man. ii, 1-^34, 344.— 

 Sw., Classif..B. ii, 1837, 365.— Aud., Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 562, pi. 381 ; Syn. 1839. 

 273; B. Am. vi, 1843, 212. pi. 381.— Eyt., Mon. Anat. 1839, 92.— Te.mm., Man. 

 iv, 1840, 516.— Natoi., V. D. xi, 1842, 213, pi. 284.— GiR., B. L. I. 1844, 297.— 

 Dekay, N. Y. Zool. 1844, ii, 350.— ScHL., Rev. Grit. 1844, 109; M. P.-B. viii, 1865, 

 107.— Gkay, Gen. of B. iii, 1849, 401.— Lemb., Av. Cnb. 1850, 111.— Woodh., .Sitgr. 

 Rep. 1853, 101.- Putx., Pr. Ess. Inst, i, 1856, 219 (Massachn.sett8, rare).-^CAss . 

 Pr. Pbila. Acad. 1856, 11; 1861, 72.— Cab., J. f. O. r, 1857, 225 (Cnba).-XF.\VB., 

 P. R. R. Rep. vi, 1857, 101 (California).— Heerji., iUd. s, 1859, 68.— Bd., B. N. A. 

 1838, 760.— WH35AT., Ohio Agi-ic. Rep. 1860, No. 235.— Coop. & Suck., N. H. 

 Wash. Ter. 1830, 249.— Reinti., Ibis, iii, 1861, 12 (Greenland).— Blak., Ibi.s, 

 1863, 139.— Boakdm., Pr. Bost. Soc. ix, 1862, 129 (Maine, rare).— Ross, Canad. 

 Nat. vii, Apr. 1862, p. — .— Bkee, B. Eur. iv, 1863, 126, pi. — .— Veur., Pr. Es.s. 



