CACKLING GOOSE. 77 



until the following April. This species is the smallest of 

 all the Geese, save Ross's, which enter the United States. 



BR A NT A CANADENSIS MINIMA. 



Geographical Distribution. — Alaska; south in winter to Cali- 

 fornia, and eastward occasionally in the Mississippi Valley to 

 Wisconsin. Breeds in Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands as far 

 west as Unalaska. 



Adult. — This species is a small representative of B. c. occi^en- 

 talis, and bears the same relationship to it as B. c. hutchinsii 

 does to B. canadensis. The white patch on the head is rather 

 differently shaped, and does not seem to go so far above the eye 

 as in B. c. accident alis; but this may vary in individuals, as 

 undoubtedly does the amount of black on the throat. The main 

 distinctions from the White-cheeked Goose, however, are size 

 and the number of tail feathers, which in this species amount to 

 from fourteen to sixteen, the same as in B. c. hutchinsiii but there 

 are other and sufficient differences between the last species and 

 B. c. minima which easily distinguish them from each other: such 

 as the distinctive shade of coloration on the under parts, and its 

 abrupt or gradual meeting with the white anal region. Some- 

 times examples of this species are strongly suffused beneath 

 with rust color. Bill, legs, and feet, black. Total length, about 

 24 inches; wing, average, 134 ; tail, about 5^; tarsus, 2-}; culmen, 

 about i-^; tail feathers, 14-16. 



