Plumage entirely white; ends of primaries black; top and back of head sometimes tinged with rusty; bill and feet red; eye brown. This variety is like the next, which is the bird commonly seen in the East, although the Lesser Goose is found east to the Mississippi Valley.
GREATER SNOW GOOSE
169a. C. h. nivalis. 33 in.
Snow Geese travel in large flocks, the same as do the [Canada Geese], led by an old male that has traveled the airy road many times before. At times, flocks are seen on the prairies, so large that they give the ground the appearance of being covered with snow. They are very wary and will all take flight at the first alarm.
Notes.—Usually silent, but they sometimes “honk.”
Nest.—Of grasses, sometimes, but not always, lined with down; 5 to 8 buffy white eggs (3.40 × 2.40); June.
Range.—Breeds in the Arctic regions; winters on the South Atlantic coast.
BLUE GOOSE
169.1. Chen cœrulescens. 28 in.