AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 



GAMBELI. 



ANSER ALBIFRONS 



ALLAN BROOKS. 



The white front is also known to shoot- 

 ers by the names "speckle-belly," and 

 "laughing goose," and throughout the Mis- 

 sissippi valley is erroneously called "brant." 

 It is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 but seldom in any large numbers, except, 

 perhaps, at its breeding grounds in the far 

 North. I have seen it in Southern British 

 Columbia as late as June, but have never 

 found its breeding ground, and do not 

 think it breeds in the province at all, 

 though the young are said to have been 

 taken on Caribou lake, Vancouver's island. 



following incident. I had pitched my de- 

 coys and shot several geese within ioo 

 yards of a pair of white fronts which were 

 feeding out of sight in a small pool to my 

 left. In about J4 an hour I saw 2 sports- 

 men coming toward me over the mud flats. 

 When within 200 or 300 yards they stopped 

 and seemed to consult. Then one of them 

 fired 2 shots with a rifle, as I supposed at 

 my decoys. I got up in my pit and shouted 

 to them to stop. They then came up with- 

 in 60 yards of the white fronts and missed 

 them with a shot gun, when the geese rose 





■I ^b ~"*^' -** ~jf 







j#5*'" 





[f 



1 V$B^" ■ • ^2*^ 



AMERICAN WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. ANSER ALBIFRONS GAMBELI. 



The white front is the least wary of all 

 geese, and, as Charles St. John observed of 

 its European representative, the typical al- 

 bifrons, it seems to prefer swampy ground 

 to grain fields or mud flats. I have often 

 seen it in localities where one would never 

 expect to see a goose. 



I have never seen a large flock of this 

 species, generally 2 or '3 dozen, but of- 

 ten singly. It associates freely with all 

 other geese, but can always be picked out 

 by its lighter color and entirely different 

 cry, which resembles that of a domestic 

 goose. 



To illustrate its tameness I will relate the 



and flew off to the lake. Toward evening 

 they came in again and I killed them right 

 and left. They are a small goose weighing 

 about 5 or 6 pounds on an average. 



Young birds lack the conspicuous white 

 forehead and black patches on the lower 

 surface, but can always be told from all 

 other geese by their yellow feet. The bill 

 in the adult is flesh colored, with the cul- 

 men dull orange yellow; feet orange, iris 

 hazel. 



In the old world there are 2 close allies 

 of this bird, Anser albifrons and Anser cry- 

 thro pus. 



254 



