112 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
coast of North Carolina, while the Lesser Snow Goose breeds from the 
Hudson Bay region westward and in winter is found mainly if not entirely 
in the interior. 
We have numerous records of Snow Geese in Michigan, sometimes under 
the name of hyperboreus, sometimes nivalis, and occasionally with no 
indication as to the species or subspecies. It seems likely that without 
exception all these records refer to the Lesser Snow Goose, Chen hyperboreus, 
unless possibly specimens of the totally different Blue-winged Goose have 
sometimes been mistaken for young Snow Geese. The older records of 
Snow Geese from the state certainly are not reliable in so far as this question 
is concerned. The only satisfactory evidence at our disposition consists 
of the few specimens still accessible known to have been taken within our 
limits or very near them. Of these there seem to be in all less than a dozen, 
but without exception these prove to be Lesser Snow Geese. These, so far as 
Iam able to record them, are as follows: One taken at St. Clair Flats No- 
vember 5, 1905 by a local sportsman and recorded by Swales and Taverner as 
the Lesser Snow Goose, after careful measurement and examination of a 
sketch of the bird by J. H. Fleming and Dr. Louis B. Bishop; one specimen, 
an immature female in dusky plumage, taken October 27, 1905 on Point 
Pelee near Leamington, Ontario; an immature specimen in the Barron 
collection at Niles, identified by the writer, and probably taken in the 
vicinity of Niles, although without data (Possibly this is one of the two 
specimens recorded by D. D. Hughes as shot from a flock of five in Calhoun 
county November 4, 1867; he states that both of these were mounted for 
his collection); an adult specimen in full plumage received from A. H. 
Boies of Hudson, who states that it was killed in Hillsdale county, Novem- 
ber 28, 1890. 
In addition to these positive records there are numerous records of the 
occurrence of Snow Geese in various parts of the state. Dr. Gibbs states 
“T have shot Snow Geese in Kalamazoo county, but am not able now to 
say which species, and the specimens are not available.’ O. B. Warren 
says ‘Occasionally seen in Marquette county during the fall migrations, 
one was taken in 1895.” Mr. L. Whitney Watkins states that a flock of 
one hundred and fifty was seen at Manchester, near the boundary between 
Washtenaw and Jackson counties, April 2, 1894. Major Boies states that 
Snow Geese are “said on good authority to frequent the waters of Hay 
Lake and Monosco Bay, St. Mary’s River.” Snow Geese are also reported 
as not uncommon in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Ontario, but in 
most cases the records seem to be no more satisfactory as regards the sub- 
species than those of our own state. Mr. P. A. Taverner quotes Mr. J. H. 
Fleming of Toronto as saying that he has found only specimens of the 
Lesser Snow Goose in the collections which he has examined in Ontario. 
On the other hand W. W. Cooke states that both forms of the Snow Goose 
occur during the winter season in the lower Mississippi Valley. ‘It seems 
probable that in this district the Mississippi River is the approximate 
dividing line between the two forms, to the westward C. hyperborea being 
the more common, and to the eastward C. nivalis. Both forms winter 
as far north as southern Illinois, and the Lesser Snow Goose is abundant 
in winter in Louisiana and Texas. * * * It winters sparingly in 
southern Colorado, more commonly in Utah, abundantly in Nevada, and 
along the Pacific coast.” (U.S. Dep’t of Agriculture, Biological Survey, 
Bull. No. 26, 1906, p. 66). 
Under the head of the Greater Snow Goose Mr. Cooke states ‘“‘There is 
