lOO Geese which occur in California. [zoe 



White-cheeked Goose. Brarita canadensis occidentalis. This 

 is the " Honker " of California hunters. 



It is abundant in the State in winter, though not nearly as nu- 

 merous as several other kinds of geese. It seldom arrives before 

 the middle of November, sometimes considerably later, and not un- 

 til comparatively cold weather sets in. It begins to leave usually 

 about the middle of March, and I have seen a flock going east over 

 the snow-covered Sierra Nevada as early as Feb. 22, 1887, during 

 a mild sunny morning when I was hunting just below the snow line 

 in Calaveras County, as I have often seen them going here and in 

 Yuba County under similar conditions. 



In Partial List of Birds of Central California, I am credited with 

 the statement that this goose comes to this State and leaves it about 

 same time that the American white-fronted goose does — one of 

 the very few errors in that paper, which was otherwise very satis- 

 factory to me. In that paper I mention that I have often seen this 

 goose crossing the mountains (and leaving) about the middle of 

 March, which partly corrects the error which must have occurred 

 by an incorrect reading of my writing. I have not seen this goose 

 as far south as San Diego County, but Mr. Morgan told me he had 

 seen a flock of about a dozen at La Hoya, twelve miles north of 

 San Diego, and had shot several of them. 



I first saw it in market at Stockton Nov. 1 1, 1880, Nov. 23, 1881 ; 

 at Gridley, Dec. 2, 1885. 



It breeds sparingly in a large marsh at Tallac Point, Lake Tahoe, 

 or did so recently; at Pyramid Lake and other lakes in the Great 

 Basin, on the east slope of the Sierra, and is the only goose which 

 is known to breed in any part of California. Its breeding habitat 

 is much more southern than that of any other of the geese. 



Mr. Fannin, in his Check List of Birds of British Columbia, re- 

 fers to a single specimen taken in the interior of B. C.,from which I 

 conclude that he considers it rare in the province. 



Cackling Goose. Branta canadensis minima. This, the smallest 

 goose of the honker color, is perhaps more abundant than any 

 goose found in the State. On Butte Creek, a favorite resort for geese 

 especially when they first arrive from the north, I am confident that 

 I have seen a half a million of these geese in a single day. They 

 arrive there from the first to the tenth of October; were already nu- 

 merous Oct. I, 1884. In the fall of i8gi it was in considerable force 

 there, about two weeks before hutclmisii arrived. 



