65 
DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 
and has doubtless come from its habit of feeding at the bottom of the 
lake. Goss gives its food as seeds, roots, and plant stems, shellfish 
and various forms of life found in both deep and shallow water. 
He adds that when fat it is a good table duck. My own experience 
is that, roasted Indian fashion in the fire with the feathers on, its 
meat is juicy, tender, and of delicious flavor, particularly if you are 
hungry! Vernon Bailey 
GENUS NOMONYX. 
[168.] Nomonyx dominicus (Linn.). Masked Duck. 
Similar to the ruddy duck, but tail with 20 instead of 18 feathers, and 
bill smaller with wider nail — nail over .25 wide instead of .10 as in the 
ruddy. Adult male: front of head black ; neck, sides, and back bright 
chestnut, streaked on back with black ; wings black, with a large white 
patch. Adult female : crown blackish ; side of head with two black and 
two buffy stripes; neck and sides dull brownish ; back dusky. Length: 
12.00-14.50, wing about 5.50-5.75, tail 3.50-4.50, bill 1.30-1.37. 
Distribution. — Tropical America and West Indies; north on Gulf coast 
to Lower Rio Grande ; accidental in eastern United States. 
GENUS CHEN. 
General Characters. — Bill short and high at base, dull red, with whitish 
tip ; feet dull red ; plumage of adults white, except for wing, which has a 
black tip and adjoining gray patch. Young with head, neck, and upper 
parts light gray ; rump, tail, and under parts white, feet and tail dusky. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Bill very stout, with black along edges. 
2. Smaller, wing 14.50-17.00 . hyperborea, p. 65. 
2'. Larger, wing 17.35-17.50 .nivalis, p. 66. 
1'. Bill not very stout, without black on cutting edges; wing 13.75-15.50. 
rossii, p. 66. 
169. Chen hyperborea (Pall.). Lesser Snow Goose. 
Adults. — A conspicuous hard, black plate along side of lower mandible ; 
plumage pure white except for wing, which has black tip and gray patch ; 
white of head and sometimes neck and breast washed or stained with 
rusty orange. Length: 23-28, wing 14.50-17.00, bill 1.95-2.30. 
Distribution. — Western North America, breeding in Alaska; south in 
winter to southern California, Gulf of Mexico, and east to Kansas and 
southern Illinois. 
The snow geese, or white brant, are common in migration over the 
western United States, wintering in California, southern Utah, Texas, 
and Mexico. They are oftenest seen on the wing high overhead in 
long diagonal lines or V-shaped flocks, flying rapidly and uttering a 
chorus of shrill falsetto cries ; but not infrequently they are found in 
some big marsh, on the open prairie, or in a field of grain, massed till 
they look like a spring snow bank. Much of their food is gleaned 
from the stubble fields during the fall migration and from fields of 
