vou. ul.] Geese which occur in California. 99 
In 1884, the Sacramento Record-Union of Sept. 2 noticed the ar- 
rival of geese, which were unquestionably of this species. 
It is sometimes named the laughing goose, a name prebably de- 
rived from its notes rather than from its gaping mouth. 
Canapa Goose. Branta canadensis. Mr. Fannin says: “It is 
a very abundant resident of British Columbia, breeds throughout 
the interior of the mainland, appears in great flocks along the lower 
Frazer River during the winter months and affords fine sport for the 
hunters.’’ 
Dr. J. C. Merrill in the Auk of April, 1888, says (at Fort Klam- 
ath): “ Of occidentalis 1 saw none, although they doubtless occur 
here. Canadensis seemed to be typical.”’ 
Like Ovocoris alpestris merrilli and other birds, the Canada goose 
probably crosses the mountains and spends the winter in the Sacra- 
mento Valley, and perhaps in other parts of this State. In Yuba 
and Butte counties I have occasionally during many years noticed 
small, paler flocks of “ Honkers,” which reminded me of those I 
had seen and shot on the Illinois and Platte rivers. 
Hurtcutns’s Goose. Branta canadensis hutchinsii. This for con- 
venience on this occasion, we will call the medium-sized honker. 
It breeds in Alaska. 
It is very abundant in the State in winter, arriving in the Sacra- 
mento Valley about the tenth of October. My earliest fall notice of 
it in Butte County is Oct. 9, 1884, at which time it was abundant. 
In the fall of 1891 I did not see or hear it until about Oct. 20, and 
my observations accorded with those of the market hunters on 
Butte Creek. It remains in the Sacramento Valley until about 
April 20, sometimes a few days later. 
It goes about one hundred miles south of San Diego, according 
to Mr. Anthony, and is numerous in parts of San Diego County in 
winter. : 
Its notes are unlike the notes of occidentalis, and are also differ- 
ent from the notes of minima. I think it varies more in size than 
the latter, and that this variation is responsible for the difficulty ex- 
perienced by some writers in separating them. 
This goose was abundant during March, 1892, on Butte Creek, 
and about Gridley, but I did not hear or see minima. I have often 
seen them in separate flocks, but I oftener see these, like other 
geese, in large mixed flocks of various kinds. 
