66 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Evidently, the geese have resumed the practice in view of our 

 information for more recent years. 



Jaques (1930) reported that "Three flocks of what were 

 probably cackling geese were migrating to the southwest May 

 16, inside the Shumagin Islands." They may have been headed 

 for the Aleutians, judging by the direction they were taking. 



It is evident, from information at hand, that the spring migra- 

 tion took place in April and part of May, but it was not so 

 spectacular as the fall migration. 



Nesting Habits 



Agattu, in the Near Islands group, is the most favorable for 

 geese. Most of the island is a lowland, liberally dotted with lakes. 

 This makes it easy to understand why such islands as Semichi, 

 Amchitka, Tanaga, and Kanaga were at one time a goose para- 

 dise — all of them have extensive lowlands with lakes. 



There is another type of nesting habitat which is typified by 

 Buldir Island — a domelike island rising sheer from the sea. 

 Buldir possesses beaches and a small grassy valley cut by a 

 stream. In this valley, where the grasses and sedges are heavy 

 and rank, there were no geese. High on the mountain there are 

 little depressions, benches, and valleys, which are cut by water 

 courses. In this terrain, where the grasses and sedges are short 

 and tender, there were geese — even though there is fog much of 

 the time. So, on Buldir, the geese apparently have found an en- 

 vironment that is suited to them. 



It is interesting to note that these geese do not hesitate to take 

 to salt water. One, with two downy young, was seen in a bay at 

 Agattu, and another was seen in the water near Chagulak, an 

 island at Amukta Pass. The presence of a goose at Chagulak 

 suggests another high-mountain habitat, because that island is 

 extremely precipitous. 



Present numbers — We have just enumerated the early accounts 

 of "thousands" of geese, including Turner's "thousands" in the 

 Near Islands, and Clarke's tale of abundance on Agattu. Today, 

 the Aleutian district presents a striking example of the rapid de- 

 cline of a species ; the general opinion is that the fall concentra- 

 tions in the False Pass area have greatly declined, apparently 

 involving to some extent the geese from the more northerly nest- 

 ing grounds. 



We were surprised to find no sign of these geese on the lake- 

 dotted flats around the lower part of the Ugashik River, and in 

 1937 we observed only a few pairs of geese on Agattu Island — 

 probably less than 6 pairs in 4 days of traveling over the island. 



