Color Key to North American Birds Part 22

[Ill.u.s.tration: 181. Bill of.]

=181. Trumpeter Swan= (_Clor buccinator_). L. 65. Nostril about in middle of bill. _Ads._ White, bill and feet black; _no_ yellow on lores. _Yng._ Head and neck brownish; rest of plumage washed with grayish. _Notes._ Loud and sonorous in tone like those of a French horn. (Elliot.)

Range.--"Chiefly the Interior of North America, from the Gulf Coast to the Fur Countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas northward; west to the Pacific Coast; rare or casual on the Atlantic." (A.O.U.)

Geese

[Ill.u.s.tration: 169.1]

=169.1. Blue Goose= (_Chen caerulescens_). L. 28. _Ads._ Head and neck white; below brownish gray; foreback like breast; rump gray. _Yng._ Similar but head and neck grayish brown.

Range.--North America; breeds in Hudson Bay region; winters on west coast of the Gulf of Mexico; two California records; said to have occurred in New Jersey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 171a.]

=171a. American White-fronted Goose= (_Anser albifrons gambeli_). L.

28. _Ads._ Forehead and rump white; below spotted with black. _Yng._ Similar but no white on head no black below.

Range.--North America; breeds in Arctic region; winters on Gulf Coast, California and Mexico; rare on Atlantic coast.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 176.]

=176. Emperor Goose= (_Philacte canagica_). L. 26. _Ads._ Foreneck blackish; rest of head and neck white sometimes tinged with rusty; tail mostly white. _Yng._ Body less distinctly scaled; head and hindneck spotted with grayish. _Notes._ When flying, a deep, hoa.r.s.e, strident _cla-ha, cla-ha, cla-ha_; when alarmed and about to fly, a ringing _u-lugh_,_-ulugh_. (Nelson.)

Range.--"Coast and islands of Alaska north of the Peninsula; chiefly about Norton Sound and Valley of the Lower Yukon; Commander Islands, Kamchatka; casually south to Humboldt Bay, California." (A.O.U.)

Geese and Brant

[Ill.u.s.tration: 172.]

=172. Canada Goose= (_Branta canadensis_). L. 38. _Ads._ A white patch on cheeks and throat; rest of head and neck black; no whitish ring at base of black neck. _Yng._ Similar but with blackish on white of throat. _Notes._ A sonorous _honk_.

Range.--North America; breeds from Labrador, Minnesota and British Columbia, north chiefly in the interior, to Alaska; winters from Long Island, Illinois and British Columbia south to Mexico and southern California.

=172a. Hutchins Goose= (_B. c. hutchinsii_). Similar to No. 172, but smaller; L. 30; tail feathers, 14-16.

Range.--Western North America; breeds in Arctic regions; winters from British Columbia and Kansas south to Lower California and Mexico.

=172b. White-cheeked Goose= (_B. c. occidentalis_). Size of No. 172, but throat blackish, lower neck with white collar.

Range.--"Pacific coast region, from Sitka, south in winter to California." (A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 172c.]

=172c. Cackling Goose= (_B. c. minima_). Similar to No. 172b, but smaller, L. 24; tail feathers 14-16.

Range.--Western North America; breeds in Alaska; winters from British Columbia southward; east rarely to Wisconsin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 173.]

=173. Brant= (_Branta bernicla glaucogastra_). L. 26.

_Ads._ Sides of neck with white markings; belly _whitish_.

_Notes._ A guttural _car-r-rup_, or _r-r-r-rouk_. (Elliot.)

Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in Arctic regions; winters in America, from Mississippi Valley east, and from Illinois and Ma.s.sachusetts southward; rare in interior.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 174.]

=174. Black Brant= (_Branta nigricans_). L. 26. _Ads._ _Sides_ and _front_ of neck with white markings; belly nearly as dark as back.

_Notes._ A low guttural _gr-r-r-r-r_; on alarm repeated often with emphasis. (Nelson.)

Range.--Western North America; breeds in northern Alaska and eastward; winters from British Columbia to Lower California; occasional on Atlantic Coast.

Order VI. FLAMINGOES.

ODONTOGLOSS?.

Family 1. FLAMINGOES. Ph?nicopteridae. 1 species.

Flamingoes might be called long-legged Ducks. Their feet are webbed, and their bill is set with ridges, which serve as sieves or strainers, as do the 'gutters' on a Duck's bill. They are, however, wading birds and their webbed feet are of use in supporting them on the soft mud of shallow lagoons or bays where they search for the favorite food of small mollusks. In feeding the flat top of the bill is pressed into the mud when its tip points upward toward the bird's body. Flamingoes fly with the neck and legs stretched to the utmost presenting on the wing a picturesque, but by no means so graceful an appearance as do the Herons. Their voice is a vibrant _honking_ like that of a Goose.

Order VII. HERONS, STORKS, IBISES, ETC.

HERODIONES.

Family 1. SPOONBILLS. Plataleidae. 1 species.

Family 2. IBISES. Ibididae. 3 species.

Family 3. STORKS and WOOD IBISES. Ciconiidae. 1 species.

Family 4. BITTERNS, HERONS, ETC. Ardhidae. 14 species, 3 subspecies.

The Roseate Spoonbill was formerly a common bird in Florida and along the Gulf coast, but so many have been killed for their plumage that in the United States the species is now exceedingly rare except in the most remote parts of southern Florida.