. Feathered game of the Northeast . underparts are covered with a thick coat of blackdown beneath the feathers as in the bill is whitish, marked at the end by adull, reddish patch. Frontal shield and feet greenish. Iris bright from fourteen to sixteen inches; extentfrom twenty-three to twenty-six inches. THE GREATER SNOW GOOSE. (Chen hyperborea nivalis.) This species is one of general distribution inNorth America, though in comparison with thenumbers found in the West the Snow Goose isof rare occurrence in New England, and here,as in the rest of the Atlantic
. Feathered game of the Northeast . underparts are covered with a thick coat of blackdown beneath the feathers as in the bill is whitish, marked at the end by adull, reddish patch. Frontal shield and feet greenish. Iris bright from fourteen to sixteen inches; extentfrom twenty-three to twenty-six inches. THE GREATER SNOW GOOSE. (Chen hyperborea nivalis.) This species is one of general distribution inNorth America, though in comparison with thenumbers found in the West the Snow Goose isof rare occurrence in New England, and here,as in the rest of the Atlantic States, it is entirelymaritime. These birds breed in the far north,mostly on the Arctic shores of the continent andon the almost unknown islands beyond, and theironly visits to New England are made duringthe migrations. Even then they stay scarcelylonger than is necessary to rest and lay in astock of provisions for another flight. They ar-rive on their journeying to the north a few dayslater than does the Canada goose and commence. UJ(TOO oo <J~) THE GREATER SNOW GOOSE 249 their southern movements before the larger spe-cies. Few New England gunners have any per-sonal acquaintance with this bird, but in theWest, on the plains, in the marshes and alongthe Pacific coast they are very abundant duringthe flight seasons. Their large flocks seen ata distance on the brown grass look like the re-mains of some great snow drift not yet con-quered by the sun. In its eastern habitat itpasses the winter months in the South Atlanticand Gulf States, and on its western range itwinters in Texas and on the coast of SouthernCalifornia in great numbers. On the Atlanticcoast line they become much more abundantsouthward, where practically all the SnowGoose population of the eastern half of the con-tinent congregates for the cold weather. Its plumage is very striking—for the mostpart of snowy whiteness, with a speckling ofrusty brown on the head, darkest at the base ofthe bill and gradually fadin
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgameandgamebirds
