186 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Nesting. — Absolutely nothing seems to be known about its breed- 

 ing habits in a wild state. Probably nothing will be known until 

 some of the vast unexplored areas in the Arctic regions are better 

 known. But these regions are so inaccessible that their exploration 

 would involve more time, greater expense, and more enthusiasm than 

 even the valuable results to be attained are likely to warrant. There- 

 fore this and several other similar problems are likely to remain 

 for a long time unsolved. • 



For all that we know about the nesting habits of the Ross goose, 

 we are indebted to F. E. Blaauw (1903) who has succeeded in 

 breeding this species in captivity on his place at Gooilust in Holland. 

 He writes : 



At a meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club ou March 20, 1901, I ex- 

 hibited an egg of the rare Ross's snow goose {Chen rossi) laid in captivity 

 by a solitary female kept by me at Gooilust. A year later, through the courtesy 

 of Doctor Heck, of Berlin, I received a second specimen of this species, which 

 fortunately proved, as I hoped it would, to be a male. The birds soon paired, 

 and in the beginning of May, 1902, the female made a nest under a bush in 

 her inclosure. The nest was, as is usual with geese, a small depression in the 

 soil, lined with dry grass and grass roots. 



Toward the end of the month the female began to lay, and on the 30th, when 

 the full complement of 5 eggs had been deposited, she began to sit, having in 

 the meantime abundantly lined her nest with down from her own breast. The 

 two birds had always been of a very retiring disposition, but after the female 

 had laid her eggs the male, who nearly always kept watch close by the nest, 

 became quite aggressive. He would fearlessly attack anybody that approached. 



Eggs. — There is an egg in the collection of Adolph Nehrkorn, 

 probably one of Mr. Blaauw's eggs, which is described as white and 

 which measures 74 by 47 millimeters. 



Young. — Mr. Blaauw's bird had incubated for only 21 days when 

 he was surprised to find the eggs hatched. "All the 5 eggs had 

 hatched, and the little birds were still in the nest when I noticed 

 them, forming a most charming group, ever watched as they were by 

 their anxious parents." iVnother season, when 3 eggs were set under 

 a hen, the period of incubation proved to be 24 days. 



Plumages. — Mr. Blaauw (1903) describes the downy young as 

 follows : 



The chicks are of a yellowish gray, darker on the upper side and lighter 

 below, and have, what makes them most conspicuously beautiful, bright 

 canary-yellow heads, with the most delicate grayish sheen over them, caused 

 by the extremity of the longer down hairs being of that color. The bill is 

 black, with a flesh-colored tip. A little spot in front of each eye is also black- 

 ish. The legs are olive green. The down is wonderfully full and heavy, and 

 it seems almost incredible how such large birds can have come out of such 

 small eggs. Three of the chicks were as described above, but two of them had 

 the part white which in the others was yellow. All that I can add is that, as 

 usual with chicks, the intensity of the coloration gradually diminished as they 



