ROSS SNOW GOOSE 217 



brate Zoology do not confirm this statement, as many of them are 

 suffused with rusty. 



The breeding grounds of this goose have not been definitely deter- 

 mined, but apparently lie near the Arctic coast north of the region 

 bounded by Port Anderson on the west and Hudson Bay on the east. 

 "The path of migration of this goose seems to be different from that 

 of any other species. It is a fair presumption that the principal route 

 coincides with the districts in which the species is most common. The 

 greater number pass from the breeding grounds to Great Slave Lake 

 and Lake Athabasca, continue south to central and western Montana, 

 and then turn southwest, cross the Rocky Mountains, and pass to 

 central and southern California. . . . The average date at which the 

 last one was seen in central Montana is April 24," and "the average 

 date of arrival at Columbia Falls, Montana, is October 15" (Cooke, 

 1906, pp. 69-70). Thus, instead of turning to the southeast, to winter 

 on the Gulf coast with the other eastern geese and ducks which have 

 been its traveling companions, the Ross Goose parts company with 

 them at the national boundary line, and goes southwest across the 

 Rocky Mountains to California. 



The food and feeding habits of the Ross Goose are believed to be 

 very much like those of the Lesser Snow Gtoose, but no detailed acounts 

 are available to us. 



Belding (MS) says that the Ross Goose has comparatively light- 

 colored flesh and makes very delicate, palatable food. During the 

 proper season it has been found commonly in the markets of San 

 Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, and Los Angeles. 



A species with a restricted breeding range like that of the Ross 

 Goose, and one which concentrates in a comparatively small area dur- 

 ing the winter, is in an unusual position for total extermination at 

 the hands of man. The one saving circumstance in the case of this 

 bird appears to be its choice of breeding grounds, so remote as to have 

 thus far escaped discovery by civilized man. In summer the species 

 probably enjoys total immunity from human interference. But in 

 winter it is fully exposed to the destructive agencies directed against 

 it by man. The numbers sold in the markets of California are alone 

 enough to arouse the fear that the depletion of the species will, if much 

 longer continued, shortly reach the danger point. As has been the 

 case so often before, the realization of the danger of extermination may 

 come too late. Some people hold to the view that as long as there are 

 some birds left, the species will persist, forgetting the principle that 

 when the breeding stock is depleted below a certain point further 

 reduction ensues at an increasing rate, so that total disappearance 

 comes rather abruptly. The citizens of California are almost wholly 

 responsible for the preservation of this species. 



