212 
GEESE 
169.1. Chen eseruleseens {Linn.). Blue Goose. Ads. — Head and 
upper neck white; middle of hindneck sometimes blackish, lower neck all 
around fuscous, rest of underparts brownish gray edged with buffy; lower 
belly generally paler, sometimes white ; upper back and scapulars like breast ; 
lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts gray; tail fuscous-gray edged with 
whitish; wing-coverts like the rump or slightly darker, with little or no 
whitish margins; wing-quills and tertials fuscous, the latter more or less 
margined with whitish. Im. — “Similar to adult, but head and neck uniform 
deep grayish brown, only the chin being white. L., 26*50-30*00; W., 15*00- 
17*00; B., 2*10-2*30; Tar., 3*00-3*30” (Ridgw.). 
Range. — E. N. Am. Breeding range unknown, but probably interior 
of n. Ungava; winters from Nebr. and s'. Ills. s. to coasts of Tex. and La.; 
rare or casual in migration in Calif., and from N. H. to Fla., Cuba, and the 
Bahamas. 
Long Island, one record. N. Ohio, casual T. V. 
Nest, in a depression on dried grass. Eggs, 4, “brownish buff, 2*50 x 
1*75” (Reed). Date, Cape Bathurst, June 29 (Thayer Coll.). 
The fact that the summer home of the Blue Goose is in the far 
north while its winter range is remarkably restricted, has brought the 
bird to the attention of comparatively few ornithologists. In consequence 
it has until recently been considered a rare species. During the winter 
of 1910, however, it was found in flocks of thousands at the delta of the 
Mississippi River by Job and by McAtee {Auk, 1910, p. 337). Here they 
were doing great damage to pasture lands, through their destruction 
of various grasses. 
171a. Anser albifrons gamtoeli Hartl. White-fronted Goose. Ads. 
— Forehead and region bordering base of bill white; upperparts and fore- 
neck grayish brown, more or less margined on back with lighter; longer and 
lateral upper tail-coverts white; breast somewhat lighter than throat, more 
or less irregularly marked with black, and fading gradually into pure white 
on lower belly; sides like back. Im. — Similar, but no white at base of bill 
or black marks on breast; nail of the bill black. “L., 27*00-30*00; W., 
14*25-17*50; B., 1*80-2*35; depth of mandible at base, *90-1*20; width, 
*85-1*05; Tar., 2*60-3*20” (Ridgw.). 
Range. — Cen. and w. N. A. Breeds on and near the Arctic coast from 
ne. Siberia e. to ne. Mackenzie and s. to lower Yukon Valley; winters com- 
monly from s. B. C. to s. L. Calif., and Jalisco, and rarely from s. Ills., s. 
Ohio, and N. J. s. to ne. Mex., s. Tex., and Cuba, and on the Asiatic coast 
to China and Japan; rare in migration on the Atlantic coast n. to Ungava. 
Long Island, rare T. V. Glen Ellyn, rare T. V., Mch. and Oct. SE. 
Minn., T. V., Apl. 1. 
Nest, on the ground, of grasses lined with down. Eggs, 6-7, dull greenish 
yellow with obscure darker tints, 3*10 x 2*07 (Davie). Date , Pt. Barrow, 
Alaska, June 19. 
“These birds are xarely met with on the Atlantic coast, but are 
quite common in the Misissippi Valley and abundant on the Pacific 
slope. They prefer low, wet grounds in the vicinity of timber, or where 
the prairie is dotted here and there with bushes; and, while they occas- 
ionally forage off the wheat fields and other grains on the bottom lands, 
they seldom visit the high, dry prairies like the Snow and Canada Geese.” 
(Goss.) 
The European White-fronted Goose {1 71. Anser albifrons albifrons) 
resembles its American representative in color, but averages smaller. It is 
of doubtful record from Eastern Greenland. 
