Colors. Head above and neck dark greenish cinereous, the shafts of the feathers in front black; back, rump, wing-coverts, and exposed portions of quills, dark olive, slightly tinged with ashy; quills brownish black, widely edged on their outer web with olive; tail dark glossy bluish green, widely tipped with white; plumage of the middle of the throat black, bare spaces on each side reddish orange; breast, sides, flanks, and tibiae, dull yellowish green, very pale, and in some specimens nearly white on the middle of the abdomen, and frequently tinged with rufous on the flanks and tibia; under tail-coverts dark rufous, frequently tinged with green; bill dark, light at the tip, especially of the under mandible; tarsi light.
Hab. Texas. Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philad., and Nat. Mus., Washington.
Obs. There is a general resemblance of several species of this genus to each other, almost impossible to be pointed out in the limits of our present article. The bird now before us may be recognised, however, without difficulty, by its comparatively large size and the dark cinereous color of its head and neck.
Specimens of this bird in adult plumage are yet rarely brought in collections, and we suspect is only attained in several years.
BERNICLA LEUCOPAREIA.—(Brandt.)
The White-necked Goose.
PLATE XLV. Adult Male.
On the western coast of North America, this is one of the most abundant of the species of Geese. In California it appears regularly in the course of its migrations in the spring and autumn, and at both seasons is brought to the market in San Francisco, in large numbers.
This bird is a near relative of Hutchins’ Goose, a well known species, though not of common occurrence on the Atlantic coast. It is more frequently met with in the larger rivers of the interior. From that species our present bird may be easily distinguished by the white ring around the neck, a character not mentioned in the descriptions given by authors, nor represented in the plate in Mr. Audubon’s Birds of America, of Hutchins’ Goose. The plate alluded to is the only one of the species which has come under our notice, and is given with that eminent naturalist’s usual great accuracy, but may not, we suspect, represent a bird in mature plumage. This suspicion we have been induced to entertain from an examination of the specimen figured by Mr. Audubon, for an opportunity to make which we are indebted to the kindness of our friend, Mr. J. P. Giraud, of New York, to whose fine collection it belongs.
We are not, however, sufficiently familiar with Hutchins’ Goose, to feel qualified to decide respecting the identity of the present species.
This bird was first described by Prof. Brandt, a distinguished Russian naturalist, who ascertained it be an inhabitant of the coasts of Russian America. This author, and various others of Russia, have done much towards elucidating the Natural History of Northwestern America, and in some instances names given by them will be found to anticipate those of Americans, especially in ornithology.
As a species occurring on the coast of California, our present bird was first observed by Mr. John G. Bell, of New York, whose collection made in that country contained numerous specimens. Since that period, it has been noticed by nearly all our naturalists, though nothing is recorded of its habits or history. In fact, the water-birds of Western America have by no means received sufficient attention, and contributions to their history would be important additions to American ornithology.