BLUE GOOSE
169.1. Chen cœrulescens. 28 in.
Head and neck white, often tinged with rusty on the face; underparts brownish-gray. Young birds are similar but the head is brownish; bill and feet reddish; eye brown. This handsome goose is found only in the interior, but a few accidental birds have been taken on the Atlantic and two on the Pacific coasts. While it is not an abundant species, flocks of twenty or thirty are often seen in the Mississippi Valley. They are sometimes seen with [Snow Geese], but for the most part keep by themselves. On their march to their breeding grounds they branch off from the routes chosen by the [Snow Geese], and turn to the eastward, breeding east of Hudson Bay, while the white geese are found chiefly to the westward.
Nest.—A grass-lined depression on the ground; eggs deep buff color (2.50 × 1.75); June.
Range.—Breeds in the Hudson Bay region and in Labrador; winters on the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico, migrating through the Mississippi Valley.
