1880,three Snow Geese passed the boat quite close, “ whiter
than snow7, bills and feet redder than oranges, hut, alas ! no
gun at hand ” ; and on the 25th December, “ one on cliff,
not shot, no doubt about it ” (Migr. Rep. pp. 29, 58).
In Europe the Snow Goose is said to have occurred at
intervals in Germany, especially in Silesia, in considerable
flocks. In the south of France an immature bird is stated to
have been killed near Arles; and M. Lacroix has recorded the
acquisition of one captured on the 13th of December, 1870,
out of a band of three, in the Haute-Garonne, where five or
six others were seen. Both Yon der Miihle and Lindermayer
state that this species has been observed in Greece. In Russia
Mr. Sabanaeff states, on the authority of sportsmen, that it
is found in the Kaslinsky Ural on migration ; and Pallas
says that it wTas met with near Cheli-Uba. It is found about
the delta of the Lena and in other parts of north-eastern
Siberia, and in Kamscliatka ; and in winter considerable
flocks visit Japan, where the species is known by the name of
Haku-gan; the specimens which the Editor has examined
belonging to the smaller of the two races. On the Pacific
coast of America this bird is more or less abundant from
Alaska to Southern California ; and both the large and the
small forms occur in great numbers throughout the interior
of the continent on all the lakes as far as Hudson’s Bay,
and the west side of Davis Straits ; migrating southwards on
the Atlantic side as far as Texas and Cuba, with occasional
visits to the Bermudas. According to Reinhardt, a few
stragglers in immature plumage have been observed in
Greenland.
Mr. MacFarlane describes the Snow Geese as being very
numerous at Fort Anderson about the 25tli of May, flying
northwards, but being afterwards driven back by the severity
of the weather. The nests, which were discovered on a small
island in a lake near Liverpool Bay (70° N., 128° AY.), were
in holes on the sandy soil, and were well lined with down.
The egg is said to be large as compared to the size of the
bird; oval in shape, the two ends being of unequal size;
the colour a uniform dirty chalky white ; average measurements
3*4 by 2-2 in. The late Capt. Lyon, of H.M.S.
‘ Hecla,’ says that the eggs are usually five in number.
Richardson says that the young fly in the middle of
August, and by the end of September have all departed
south. Their food in the summer consists of rushes and
insects, and in autumn of berries, particularly of those of
the Empetrum nigrum. When in good condition these birds
are excellent eating, and form the staple article of food for
the natives, by whom they are known as the ‘Wevois’ or
‘Wavies.’ It is said that the young do not attain to the full
plumage of the adults before their fourth year; and until
then they keep in separate flocks. At Fort Albany, in the
southern portion of Hudson’s Bay, where the old birds were
rarely seen, the young occurred in abundance; and, on the
other hand, the old birds in their migrations visit York
Factory in great numbers, but always unaccompanied by
their young. On the whole this species is probably the
most numerous of all the Geese which inhabit North
America.
In addition to the two forms which have here been treated
as constituting one species, there is a very small and distinct
species of Snow Goose, Chen rossi, resembling the above in
coloration, but with numerous caruncules at the base of the
bill. There is also another member of the same genus,
known as the Blue-winged Goose, C. ccerulescens, resembling
C. hyperboreus in form and proportion, but differing from
it in having the upper part of the neck and some of the
under parts marked with brown and lead-colour. It is
certainly not, in the ordinary sense of words, an immature
phase of the Snow Goose, for the young of each have a
recognizably distinct plumage ; but, considering the irregularity
in the disposition of the dark markings on the Bluewinged
Goose, it has been suggested that this and the Snow
Boose may be, respectively, coloured and white phases of
the same species, like the se which exist in some of the
American Herons. Examples of both these Geese are at
the present time (December 1884) living in the Zoological
Society’s Gardens.