66 
DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 
sprouting grain in spring. In winter they feed largely on the tender 
white roots of a rush —Juncusbalticus (?)—dug from the river banks, 
marshes, and shores. They are usually lean, and their flesh is dark 
and generally tough. Vernon Bailey. 
169a. Chen hyperborea nivalis ( Forst .). Greater Snow Goose. 
Like hyperborea , but larger. Length: 30-38, wing 17.35-17.50, bill 2.55- 
2.70. 
Distribution. — Eastern North America, breeding in northern Greenland 
and probably west to Mackenzie River ; south in winter along Atlantic 
coast to Cuba, and in the Mississippi valley to Nebraska and Colorado. 
Nest. — Little known. Eggs: 5 to 8, cream color. 
Subgenus Exanthemops. 
170. Chen rossii ( Cassin ). Ross Snow Goose. 
Adults. — Base of upper mandible often rough and warty; bill compara¬ 
tively small and without black stripe along side ; plumage as in hyperborea. 
Length: 20-26, wing J3.75-15.50, bill 1.50-1.70. 
Distribution. — Interior of arctic America; south in winter to California 
and east to Montana. Rare. 
GENUS ANSER. 
171a. Anser albifrons gambeli ( Hartl ). White-fronted 
Goose. 
Bill comparatively low at base, yellow or orange; feet orange or red¬ 
dish. Adults: face white, bor¬ 
dered with dusky ; rest of head 
and neck, also shoulders and 
chest, dark gray; belly and 
sides black or spotted with 
black, becoming white pos¬ 
teriorly and on under tail 
coverts ; back dusky gray. 
Young: without white face 
or black on belly. Length: 27- 
30, wing 14.25-17.50, bill 1.80- 
2.35, depth of upper mandible 
at base .90-1.20. 
Distribution. — North Amer¬ 
ica and Greenland, breeding from Vancouver Island to the Arctic Ocean ; 
south in winter to Mexico and Cuba. 
Nest. — A shallow cavity in the ground lined with grass, feathers, and 
down. Eggs: 5 to 7, creamy white. 
The food of the white-fronted goose, according to Goss, consists 
chiefly of vegetable matter, tender aquatic plants, insects, snails, and 
frogs. In the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys the geese are so 
abundant and their ravages to the growing wheat crop so serious 
that farmers often hire men by the month to drive them away. Dr. 
Merrill says that the numbers of these birds that migrate through 
western Oregon are so immense they cannot be appreciated until one 
Fig. 81. 
