Also snow goose. [f. SNOW sb.1 Cf. Flem. sneeuwgans (Kilian) wild goose, G. schneegans (MHG. snêgans) wild goose, snow-goose, pelican.] A northern (American) goose of the genus Chen, esp. C. hyperboreus, characterized by its pure white plumage.
1771. Forster, Catal. N. Amer. Anim., 16. Snow Goose, Anas nivalis.
1785. Pennant, Arct. Zool., II. 549. Snow Goose. Anser Grandinis...: head, neck, and body, of a snowy whiteness.
1814. A. Wilson, Amer. Ornith., VIII. 76. Snow Goose. Anas hyperborea.
1838. Audubon, Ornith., IV. 562. The geographical range of the Snow Goose is very extensive.
1856. Mayne Reid, Hunters Feast, xxvii. 248. We had also a pair of Canada geese; a snow-goose, and three brant, these last being the produce of a single shot.
1884. G. P. Lathrop, True, x. 113. The snow-goose had already been heard piping in the air, on its southward flight.