98 Geese which occur in California. [zoe 



as they do, though I beHeve it has not been recorded south of Ven- 

 tura County, where Mr. Evermann noted it as being frequent in 

 winter. 



My earliest notice of arrival is October 6, at Stockton, when I saw 

 more than a dozen in market. It is a regular winter visitant to Cal- 

 ifornia and may nearly always be found in the Stockton market, as 

 long as any of the wild geese are kept for sale. In the coldest 

 weather few geese can be found in the interior of the State, north 

 of Stockton. 



Its notes are different from those of the other white geese. I kept 

 a "winged" pair several months, which always resented undue 

 familiarity. The male would always lead the female away from me 

 and utter a strange grunting dissent if I got within a few feet of 

 them. They had been captives a year already when I got them 

 and must have had some sad experience, for I have known individ- 

 uals of this species to be very tame. One day I found a nest in a 

 pile of rubbish in the poultry yard, which had six eggs in it. The 

 eggs were concealed with a covering of straw in regular goose fash- 

 ion, and there were no other geese in the yard. I had several times 

 seen the pair about this part of the yard and thought they might 

 have a nest there, but the eggs I found were so much like hen's 

 eggs in shape, and appearance of the shell, that I thought they 

 might be hen's eggs. I never solved the problem, a young zealous 

 egg-gathering lad having discovered and appropriated them. The 

 pair finall}' escaped from neglect to keep their wings clipped. 



American White-fronted Goose. Ayiser albifrons gambeli. 

 This is known by hunters as the speckled-belly and yellow-legs. 

 It breeds in the Arctic regions, and, according to Mr. Fannin, as 

 far south as Vancouver Island. It is the first goose to arrive in Cal- 

 ifornia and the last to leave, staying a little longer than the white 

 geese; is very abundant and fairly good for the table. It arrived at 

 Stockton Sept. 7, 1878; Sept. 8, 1881. My latest spring record for 

 it here is May 3. A great many passed Stockton the previous day 

 on their way north. 



Mr. Bryant found it as far south as Guadalupe Island in winter, 

 and I heard of four near Cape St. Lucas, but the latter was excep- 

 tional. 



Its early arrival in California is nearly every fall announced by 

 the newspapers of the interior as an indication of an early winter. 



