FAUNA OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS AND ALASKA PENINSULA 65 



usual one. In 1942, according to Gabrielson, the geese departed 

 rather suddenly, eastward, on November 20. 



This situation is quite comparable to that on the other- side 

 of the continent at the head of James Bay, a southern extension 

 of Hudson Bay, where the blue geese spend more than 2 months 

 fattening, and then continue south about November 1. 



As the lesser Canada geese and the Alaskan cackling geese 

 move south, they are noted in many other places, such as 

 Metrofane and Mallard Bays in the Chignik area, at Simeonof 

 Island in the Shumagins, and the Sanak Island group. Chase 

 Littlejohn (manuscript notes) said: "A large number are seen 

 annually at Sanakh in the fall where they remain for a short time 

 at this season; they are very fat and toothsome . . . They are 

 also numerous on the peninsula where they feed entirely on 

 berries." 



Our information on the white-cheeked group of geese for 

 the more eastern parts of the Alaska Peninsula is, at this time, 

 not as complete as the information that we have for other parts 

 of this group's range. Osgood (1904) reported a flock of the 

 birds at the mouth of the Chulitna River on August 5, 1902. 

 Others were seen later on the Mulchatna and were seen between 

 the Mulchatna and Nushagak. On July 6, 1925, I saw a pair of 

 geese, not specifically identified, on the tide flats of Izembek Bay ; 

 it is possible that they were nesting birds. In August 1911, Wet- 

 more repeatedly saw "a small goose" on the marshes back of Thin 

 Point. On July 28, 1911, he saw another at Morzhovoi Bay and 

 saw three more on July 30. All of these, he provisionally identi- 

 fied as cackling geese. 



The spring migration is much less noticeable, no doubt be- 

 cause the birds are intent on reaching the nesting grounds and 

 therefore do not gather in large concentrations, and also because 

 their numbers have been greatly reduced since the previous 

 autumn. Residents at False Pass were undecided whether the 

 geese pass through there in the spring. We were told that they 

 also pass through the Chignik area, and at Simeonof Island 

 in the Shumagins, and at Sanak Island farther west. At Sanak, 

 we learned that the geese gather on the water enclosed by Sanak, 

 Elma, and Caton Islands, though they do not linger there in the 

 fall. This suggests that in the spring they have completed a 

 lengthy flight over the ocean, thus needing both food and rest. 

 Chase Littlejohn, writing of the migration at Sanak in 1887-88, 

 said, "They used to stop here on their way north a few years ago, 

 but they rarely if ever do now, for what reason I do not know." 



