452 LAMELLIKOSTEAL SWIMMERS - ANSERES. 



in large flocks, but -were more often met witli singly or in small parties. A few 

 remained to breed in company with the Bei'iiicla nigricans, but by far the greater 

 number went farther north. 



Dr. J. (,'. Merrill mentions this species as the hrst to arrive in the autumn in 

 Southwestern Texas, usually about the first week in October. Comparatively few 

 remained throughout the winter, but during the migrations it was only exceeded in 

 numbers by the Snow Goose. In their spring migrations he has seen flocks of at 

 least two hundred pass over Fort Brown as late as the 18th of April. 



Dr. Cooper mentions it as very abundant during the wet season in California, 

 some arriving as early as the second week in September, frequenting the plains 

 almost exclusively, rarely appearing on the sea-shore or in the Avater. Of all the 

 Geese that are foimd in California, this is regarded as by far the best for the table ; 

 and near the Columbia River it was found a very easy bird to shoot. The hunter 

 could walk in the long grass where the birds were, and shoot them down as they rose 

 singly or in pairs. In California they are more suspicious and wild, and it requires 

 considerable artifice to obtain a shot at them. This is done by means of brush 

 hiding-places, over which they fly, or by driving an ox that has been trained for the 

 purpose toward them, keeping concealed behind it until close to the birds. In this 

 way most of these Geese are now shot for market. 



Mr. Grayson met with this species on the western coast of Mexico, near INIazatlan, 

 where, from the month of September until February, it occurs in considerable flocks, 

 appearing to migi-ate up and down the southern Gulf shores. 



It is said to feed chiefly on berries, and is seldom seen on the water, except at 

 night or when moulting. It frequents the sandy shores of rivers and lakes in flocks, 

 one of their number performing the duty of sentinel. They breed in great numbers 

 in Arctic America and on the islands of the Polar Sea, but are more rarely seen on the 

 coast of Hudson's Bay. This bird migrates over the interior, and its breeding-places 

 are always chosen in the vicinity of wooded tracts. It passes north in large flocks 

 at the same time with, or a little later than, the Snow Goose, through the interior of 

 the Fur Country to the breeding-jjlaces, which are in the woody districts skirting the 

 Mackenzie to the north of the sixty-seventh parallel, and also to the islands in the 

 Arctic seas. The Indians imitate its call Ijy patting the mouth with the hand while 

 they repeat the syllable vjah. The resemblance of the note of this species to the 

 laugh of a man has given to the bird the common name of " Laughing Goose." 



Mr. Hearne, in his "Journey " (p. 443), refers to this species as the "Laughing 

 Goose." In size, he says, it is the equal of the Snow Goose, but its skin, when 

 stripped of its feathers, is delicately white, and the flesh excellent. It visits Church- 

 ill Eiver in very small numbers ; but about tAvo hundred miles to the northwest of 

 that River he has seen it fly in large flocks, like the common Snow Goose. Near 

 Cumberland House and Basquian this bird is found in such numbers that the Indians, 

 in the moonlight, frequently kill upwards of twenty at a shot. Like the " Horned 

 Wavey" (Anser Boss!), it never flies with the lead of the shore, but is always seen 

 arriving from the westward. The general breeding-places of this species were not 

 known to Mr. Hearne, although a few of their eggs had been occasionally found north 

 of Churchill River. Captain Blakiston speaks of this Goose as being a common bird 

 on the Saskatchewan in the spring and autumn, especially in the latter season, when 

 it is found in immense numbers, Mr. Ross also found it abundant on the Mackenzie, 

 as far north as the Arctic coast. The marshy country bordering the lower parts of 

 the Saskatchewan River, in the neighborhood of Fort Cumberland, is a great resort 

 of this species. 



