ANSERINE — THE GEESE — ANSER. 
449 
Anscr albifrons Gambeli, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Rat. Mus. 1880, 203 ; Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 593 a. 
— Coues, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 693. 
Anser crythropus, Baird, Stansbury’s Rep. 1852, 321 (nec Linn.). 
Anser frontalis, Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 562 (= young; New Mexico) ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, 
no. 566. 
Hab. The whole of North America, breeding far northward ; Cuba. The true A. albifrons , 
restricted to the Palsearctic Region and Greenland. 
a. Gambeli. 
Sp. Char. Adult : Prevailing color brownish gray, this uniform on the head and neck, and 
becoming much darker on the flanks ; feathers of the mantle, wings, sides, and flanks distinctly 
bordered terminally with pale brownish ash (sometimes approaching grayish white) ; upper edges 
of the upper layer of flank-feathers pure white, 
feathers are properly adjusted. Breast and ab- 
domen grayish white, mixed more or less with 
irregular spots and patches of black, sometimes 
scattered and isolated, but oftener more or less 
confluent. Anal region, crissum, and upper tail- 
coverts immaculate pure white ; rump brownish- 
slate ; greater wing-coverts glaucous-gray tipped 
with Avhite ; secondaries black, their edges nar- 
rowly white ; primaries slaty black, growing ashy 
basally ; primary-coverts glaucous-gray. Tail 
brownish slate, broadly tipped with white, the 
feathers narrowly skirted with the same. Front 
of the head, from the base of the bill to about 
half way across dhe lores and forehead, including 
the anterior border of the chin, white, bordered 
behind by brownish black, which gradually fades 
into the grayish brown of the head and neck. 
Bill reddish (wax-yellow, fide, Nelson), the nail 
white ; feet reddish. Young (= A. frontalis, 
Baird) : Nearly similar to the adult, but the 
anterior portion of the head dark brown, instead 
of white ; wing-coverts less glaucous ; black 
blotches of the under surface absent. Nail of 
the bill black. Dovmy young: Above, olive- 
green ; beneath, dingy greenish yellow, deepest 
yellow on the abdomen. (Hardly distinguisha- 
ble from young of Bernicla canadensis, but appa- 
rently more deeply colored, and with greater 
contrast between color of upper and lower sur- 
faces.) 
Wing, 14.50-17. 25 inches ; culmen, 1.40- 
2.35 ; tarsus, 2.60-3.10 ; middle toe, 2.35-2.70. 
Tail-feathers 16 to 18, usually the former. 
producing a conspicuous white stripe when the 
b. albifrons. 
Sp. Char. Exactly like A. Gambeli, but smaller. Wing, 15.00-15.75 inches; culmen, 1.65- 
1.75 ; depth of maxilla at base, .90, width, .80-.85 ; tarsus, 2.25-2.80 ; middle toe, 2.20-2,45. 
The principal variation among individuals of this species is in the amount of the black blotch- 
ing on the lower parts. In some specimens (as No. 10463, Frontera, Texas) there are only two or 
three small spots, while in others (as No. 16788, Hudson’s Bay Territory) the black predominates 
over the lower parts, being continuous on the abdomen, and only broken on the breast by the 
vol. i. — 57 
