Second Record of the Ross Goose from Arizona
Semnd Record of the Ross Goose from Arizona.On December I0, 1948, Dave Mitchell and Bill Baxter of the Arizona Game Department confiscated a white goose, taken by a hunter near the northern boundary of the Havasu Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This was at a boat dock, known locally as Five-Mile Landing, which is situated on the Arizona side of the Colorado River near Topock, Mohave County. The dead bird was given to me, and a skin was prepared from it. The speciment was sent to Alden H. Miller for comparison and positive identification and proved to be a typical first-year male of the Ross Goose (Chen rossii) . It lacked the warty protuberances at the base of the upper mandible that are characteristic of adults of this species.
The presence of the Ross Goose along the Colorado River had been indicated to the writer by hunters who had told of its occasional occurrence with its larger relative, the Snow Goose. The writer knows of another probable kill on the Bill Williams River near its confluence with Lake Havasu, at Parker Dam, Arizona. Tbis occurred in the 1947 waterfowl hunting season, but since no examination of the bird was made the occurrence may be questioned. However, I have every confidence that the hunter who took this bird is able to recognize a Ross Goose from a Snow Goose. Before the specimen taken in 1948 was obtained, there were no authentic records of occurrence along the Colorado River. Thus this record represents the first of the Ross Goose for the Colorado River valley and the second for the state of Arizona. The only previous record for Arizona to the writer’s knowledge is that of Cooke (Auk, 31, 1914:4Q3) who recorded a specimen taken by Dr. Meams at Fort Verde on October 24, 1887.-WARREN M. PULICH, Boulder City, Nevada, August 31, 1949.
