122 GEESE. 
     
    
   
   
    
     bottom lands,‘they seldom visit the high, dry prairies like the Snow 
     
     and Canada Geese ” (Goss). 
     
    
   
   
    
     The EUROPEAN WHITE—FRONTED Goose (171. Anser albzfrons) resembles 
     
     its American representative in color, but averages smaller. It is American 
     
     only as it occurs in Greenland, where gambelz' is apparently unknown. 
     
    
   
   
    
     172. Brute. canadensis (Lima). CANADA GoosE. xii—Throat 
     
     and a large patch on the side of the head behind the eye white or whitish; 
     
     chin and rest of the head and neck black ; back and wings grayish brown, more 
     
     or less edged with lighter; tail and shorter upper tail-coverts black, longer 
     
     and lateral ones white; breast and belly grayish, fading to white on the lower 
     
     belly; sides like the back. [rm—Similar, but throat and cheeks sometimes 
     
     mixed with blackish. “L, 35'00—43'00; W.,15'60—21'00; Tan, 2'45—3'70; B., 
     
     1'55—2'70 ” (Ridgw.). 
     
    

    
     Range—Temperate North America; breeds in the northern United States 
     
     and British provinces; south in winter to Mexico. 
     
    

    
     Washington, W. V. and rather common '1‘. V., Oct. to Apl. Long Island, 
     
     common T. V., Mch. and Apl.; Oct, some W. V. Sing Sing, tolerably com- 
     
     mon T. V., Mch. 11 to May 21; Oct. Cambridge, common T. V., Mch. and 
     
     Apl.; Oct. to Dec. 
     
    

    
     Iv'est, of sticks lined with down, on the ground in the open prairie, on 
     
     the shores of streams, on tree stumps and sometimes in trees, when a de- 
     
     serted nest of the Osprey is generally used. Eggs, four to five, bufl'y white, 
     
     3‘50 x 2'35. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Probably the migration of no bird attracts more universal interest 
     
     than that of the Wild Goose. Ornithologists talk of “waves ” and 
     
     “ flights ” of migrants passing in the night, but the biannual pilgrim- 
     
     age of the Canada. Goose appeals to us all with the directness of a per- 
     
     sonal experience. We see the living wedge of long—necked birds pass- 
     
     ing high overhead; the unbroken sound-waves bring the sonorous 
     
     “honks” with unexpected distinctness to our ears; and We receive an 
     
     impressive lesson in the migration of birds. They are embarked on a 
     
     journey of several thousand miles, but they come and go as surely as 
     
     though they carried chart and compass. 
     
    
   
   
    
     172:». B. c. 1111th (Sw. (fi' Rich). Hurcnms’s GoosE.—Resem- 
     
     bles the preceding in color, but averages smaller. L., 2500-3400; W., 14'75— 
     
     17'75; Tan, 2'25—3'20; B., 1'20—1'90 (Ridgw.). 
     
    

    
     Range.—“ North America, breeding in the arctic regions, and migrating 
     
     south in winter chiefly through the western United States and Mississippi 
     
     Valley; eastern Asia” (A. 0. U.). 
     
    

    
     Long Island, A. V. 
     
    
   
   
    
     1721:. B. c. minima Ridgw. CACKLING Goose—To be distinguished 
     
     from the two preceding by its smaller size and the much darker brownish- 
     
     gray color of the breast and upper belly. “ W., 13'60—14'50; Tan, 2'40—2‘25; 
     
     B., 95—1-15” (Ridgw.).