. . se prob-ably made up the majority of those once so numerous in NewEngland. Audubon says that he met with the Snow Goosein fall and winter in every part of the United States that hevisited. What a change has occurred since his day ! ThisGoose still appears in large flocks near Cape Hatteras andalong Albemarle Sound (Elliot, 1898); but it is now merelyaccidental in New England, and there is no definite record ofits capture in Massachusetts. It is less rare in New Yorkthan here; but Eaton gives only seventeen records of itsoccurrenc
. . se prob-ably made up the majority of those once so numerous in NewEngland. Audubon says that he met with the Snow Goosein fall and winter in every part of the United States that hevisited. What a change has occurred since his day ! ThisGoose still appears in large flocks near Cape Hatteras andalong Albemarle Sound (Elliot, 1898); but it is now merelyaccidental in New England, and there is no definite record ofits capture in Massachusetts. It is less rare in New Yorkthan here; but Eaton gives only seventeen records of itsoccurrence there (1875-1910). It is not difficult to accountfor its decrease. When it is well fed no wild Goose can excelit in richness of flavor as a table fowl. The Lesser Snow Goose, being usually strong or rank inflavor and more western in distribution, has not decreased somuch. The conspicuousness of the larger species, its easternrange and its superior flavor account for its scarcity here. 174 GAME BIRDS. WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. BLUE GOOSE {Chen cccrulescens).. Length. — About 25 to 28 inches. Adult. — Back grayish brown; head, upper part of neck and rump bluishgray; wings same, shading to black at ends; flanks grayish brown;feathers tipped with pale brown; tail dusky, edged with white; underparts white; bill and feet purplish red. Young. — Like adult, except head and neck dark grayish brown; chin onlywhite. Range. — Eastern North America. Breeding range unknown, but proba-bly interior of northern Ungava; winters from Nebraska and southernIllinois south to coasts of Texas and Louisiana; rare or casual in migra-tion in California, and from New Hampshire to Florida, Cuba and theBahamas. History. There is no reason to believe that this western species wasever more than casual here. A young female, shot at Gloucester,October 20,1876, is now in the collection of the Boston Societyof Natural History.^ > Jeffries, Wm. A.: Auk, 1889, p. BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 175 WH
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