764 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 
Comparative measurements of species. 
nicla canade 
...do , 
. ... do 
....do 
do 
do . 
Driniela leiieopar. 
ISernicla liiitebin.-u 
Bemicla brenta. 
do 
Bemicla nigrica 
do 
Bemicla leucops 
Carlisle, Pa 
, do ..... 
Salt Lake . . 
do .... 
Bodega, Cal. 
do 
Potomac rive 
alio in 
36.50 
37.00 
Yellowstone 
Frontera, Texas 
Rio Rita, N. M 
Siniialiinoo bay 
Port Townsend .... 
San Francisco 
Columbia river?.... 
Red river, H.B. T. 
Columbia river? 
Ea>t'n slime of Mil. 
30.00 
27.50 
Bodega, Ca 
do ... 
Europe.... 
30.00 
22.00 
23.50 
27.00 
29.00 
2.04 ! 2.22 
2.20 2.30 
1.92 2.01 
2.02 2.20 
2.00 2.30 
1.22 1.50 
1.23 1.50 
1.40 1.40 
BEBNICLA CANADENSIS, Boie. 
Canada Goose. 
Anas canadensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 198.— Forster, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 383.— Wils. Am. Orn. VIII, 
1814, 52; pi. Hi. 
Anser canadensis, Vieiix. Nouv. Diet.— Sw. & Rich. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 468.— Nutt. Man. II, 349.— Add. Orn. 
Biog. Ill, 1835, 1 : V, 6(17 ; pi. 201.— Ib. Syn. 270.— Ib. Birds Amer. VI, 1843, 178; pi. 376. 
Cygnns canadensis, Steph. Shaw's Zool. XII, n, 1824, 19. 
Bemicla canadensis, Boie, Isis, 1826, 921. 
? Anser parvipes, Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, Oct. 1852, 188. (Vera Cruz.) 
Sp. Ch.— -Tail of eighteen feathers. Head, neck, bill, and feet, deep black. A large triangular patch of white on the cheeks 
behind the eye; the two of opposite sides broadly confluent beneath, but not extending to the rami of lower jaw; a few whitish 
feathers on lower eyelid. Upper parts brown, edged with paler. Under parts light, with a tinge of purple gray, sometimes a 
shade of smoky brown ; the edges of the feathers paler; the color of the body of the feathers, though similar, becoming deeper 
on the sides, tibia, axillars, and inside of wings. The gray of the belly passes gradually into white on the anal region and 
u nder coverts ; the upper tail coverts are pure white. The primary quills and rump are very dark blackish brown ; the tail 
feathers are black. Length, 35 ; wing, 18 ; tarsus, 3.10; commissure, 2.10. 
Bab. — Whole of North America. Accidental in Europe. 
In comparing quite a large series of Canada geese together, I have found very great 
discrepancies in dimensions, as will be sufficiently evident from the table of measurements. I 
find almost every size between wide extremes, with great variations in size and proportions of 
the bill, as well as much difference in the shade and continuity of color. In several instances 
