BLUE GOOSE. 
283 
and Clarke. They are very abundant in Siberia, and the 
natives often take them in nets by means of rude decoys. In 
that frozen climate they afford a great article of subsistence ; 
each family killing thousands in a season, which are laid up in 
bulk, in holes in the earth, and made use of as occasion 
requires. 
The breeding area of this variety is not known with certainty, 
but it probably lies in the Barren Ground region between Green- 
land and the Mackenzie River, the larger number of the birds 
nesting towards the western limit of their range. 
The bird.s winter on the Atlantic .shores of the Southern States 
and in the West Indies, and go north chiefly by way of the Mis- 
sissippi valley. Only a few individuals are seen on the New Eng- 
land and Canadian shores. Immense flocks are met with on the 
Great Plains. 
Note. — The Lesser Snow Goose (Chen hyperborea), the Western 
form of this species, which breeds in Alaska, is found in winter 
occasionally in southern Illinois. 
BI.UE GOOSE. 
BLUE WAVEY. 
Chen cterulescens. 
Char. Back grayish brown; head, neck, and rump white ; wings 
bluish gray, shading to black on ends ; tail dusky ; under parts white ; bill 
and feet purplish red. Length about 25 inches. 
Nest and Ei;gs. Unknown, but probably similar to the Snow Goose. 
After much contention and relegation for a time to the “ Hypo- 
thetical List,” under the .supposition that it was the young of the 
Snow Goose, this has been admitted as a valid species. 
Its breeding area lies along the shores of Hudson Bay, and its 
winter home is on the Gulf coast, whence it migrates chiefly along 
the valley of the Mississippi. 
In habits the Blue Goose does not differ materially from its 
allies. 
