464 LAMELLTROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



lined with down, wliieli liad ai)parently been plucked by the female from her own 

 body. In other instances nests were found by him in similar positions. When built 

 on the ground the nests appear to have been variously composed — in one instance of 

 decayed leaves, down, and liay ; in another of dry willow sticks and moss, lined with 

 feathers and dow n. Eggs found after the middle of June contained embryos, which 

 were more or less developed. In one instance a nest was composed of a quantity of 

 turf and decayed vegetable matter lined with down, feathers, and moss. 



Mr. Dall found this bird not uncommon at Fort Yukon, wdiere its eggs were also 

 obtained, and it was also taken at Sitka by lUschoff. 



It was found breeding by jMr. Kennicott on Lake Winnipeg in June, at Fort Keso- 

 lution as early as April 5, and at Fort Yukon, May 29; by Mr. L. Clarke at Fort Rae 

 in May, at Fort Simpson l)y Mr. B. R. Ross, on the Anderson River by Mr. MacFar- 

 lane, among the mountains west of the Lower Mackenzie by Mr. R. M'Donald, at 

 I^ort I^lder by iMr. Minot, and at Sitka by Bischoff. 



Dr. Berlandier, in his manuscript notes, speaks of it as inhabiting during the win- 

 ter tlie great plains of Tamaulipas, Mexico. He has seen it in Hocks of several 

 hundreds in the grassy marshes between San Fernando and Matamoras, in the vicinity 

 of Soto Le Nanine, etc. It is commonly called Patotriguero. He also met with it in 

 December on the central plateau between the Hacienda of Encarnacion and Aguas 

 Nuevas, near Saltillo. 



Its eggs are of a uniform bright ivory white, of an oval shape ; but vary both in 

 size and shape. Specimens in the Smithsonian Collection exhibit the following 

 measurements : (No. 9455, Anderson River, MacFarlane) 3.25 by 2.15, and 3.10 by 

 2.25 inches ; (No. 1994) 3.45 by 2.40, and 3.10 by 2.30 inches ; (Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, No. 94341) Fort Yukon, 3.45 by 2.10. 



The form called Bernida occidental Is is apparently tlie Pacific coast representative 

 of the common Canada Goose. Examples of it were taken at Sitka by Mr. Bischoff, 

 but no mention was made of any specific variations in liabit. Since then it is said to 

 have been foiind in great abundance by INIr. Gra^'son in Western Mexico, where, as 

 he states, he saw it in large flocks while on the road to Durango, between the Sierra 

 Madre Mountains and that city. This was in the months of February and March. 

 He did not, however, see or hear of any west of the Cordilleras. 



Bern icla Ifufch insi. 



Although the Hutchins's Goose was first distinctively named by Dr. Richardson 

 in the "Fauna Boreali-Americana," its existence as a well-marked race or species, 

 distinct from the canadensis, was well known to Mr. Hearne nearly a century ago. 

 Under the name of the Canada Goose, he refers to it as quite distinct from our cana- 

 densis, which he calls the common Gray Goose. At the time he wrote it was well 

 known to the Indians, as Avell as to the English, in Hudson's Bay as the Pisk-a- 

 fsJ. While it does not differ in plumage from the common Wild Goose, it is much 

 inferior in size, the bill is much smaller in proportion to the size of the body, and the 

 flesh, which is much whiter, is more highly esteemed as food. It is by no means so 

 abundant at Hudson's Bay as the common species ; and as a general thing it goes 

 much farther north to breed. A few pairs were, however, knoAvn to have bred near 

 Churcliill River. It Avas seldom that either this or the true Canada Goose was 

 known to lay more than four eggs, all of which, if the nests were not robbed, the 

 birds usually succeeded in hatching. 



This Goose breeds on the shores of the Arctic Sea,; but in its migrations keeps 

 near the sea-coast, and is seldom seen in the interior. 



