BLUE GOOSE. 



C OR a long time this fine species was considered to be 

 merely the young of the Snow Goose, although in its 

 adult dress it bears no resemblance to that bird. Very 

 little is known of either its economy or habits, and it is 

 seldom seen upon any of our seacoasts, keeping chiefly 

 to the Mississippi Valley, where it is a migrant, going 

 in winter to the Gulf. The breeding grounds of this 

 Goose are unknown, but the Eskimo say they are to be 

 found in the interior of Labrador, among the impene- 

 trable bogs and swamps that are so numerous in that 

 country. It is refreshing to learn that some birds have 

 inaccessible retreats where they can rear their young 

 without molestation. According to Mr. G. Barnstone, 

 this species crosses James Bay (in the southern part of 

 Hudson Bay), coming from the eastern coast, while the 

 Snow Goose comes down from the north, seeming evi- 

 dently to indicate that their breeding places are distinct. 

 Hearne, who met with this Goose in the last century, 

 states that its flesh was very palatable, quite as good as 

 the Snow Goose, and that it was seldom seen north of 

 Churchill River, but very common at Fort York, and at 

 Fort Albany. It is occasionally seen in company with 

 the Snow Goose. The Blue Goose has been taken 

 on the coast of Maine and at Grand Menan, but is very 

 rare along the Atlantic. In the west it is more com- 

 mon and numbers are killed every winter, but it has not 

 been found anywhere upon the shores of the Pacific. 

 This species is usually distinguished from the Snow 



