LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL, 207 



the nest to the shore and began honking; her mate, away off on the 

 lake answered her and she flew out to join him. Both of these 

 nests had been robbed earlier in the season and the birds had laid 

 second sets. 



According to Milton S. Ray (1912) the Canada goose nests quite 

 commonly at Lake Tahoe in California ; he found a number of nests 

 there in 1910 and 1911. The nesting habits in this region are not 

 verj^ different from what we noted in northwest Canada. Referring 

 to the nests found in 1910, Mr. Ray writes : 



Anxious to learn something of their nesting habits, and hopins: I might he 

 in time to find a nest or so, May 23 found me rowing up the fresh-water 

 sloughs of the marsh, unmindful of the numerous terns, blackbirds, and other 

 swamp denizens, in my quest for a prospective home of the goose. Nor was 

 I long without reward, for when about 100 feet from a little island that! 

 boasted of a few lodge-pole pine saplings and one willow, a goose rose from 

 her nest, took a short run, and rising with heavy flight and loud cries, flew 

 out to open water, where she was joined by her mate. The cries of the pair 

 echoed so loudly over the marsh that it seemed the whole region must be 

 awakened. Landing on the island I found on the ground, at the edge of the 

 willow, a large built-up nest with 7 almost fresh eggs. The nest was composed 

 wholly of dry marsh grasses and down, and measured 22 inches over all, while 

 the cavity was 11 inches across and 3 inches deep. 



After a row of several miles I noticed a gander in the offing, whose swimming 

 in circles and loud honking gave assurance that the nesting precincts of another 

 pair had been invaded. A heavily timbered island, now close at hand, seemed 

 the most probably nesting place. This isle was so swampy that most of the 

 growth had been killed, and fallen trees, other impedimenta, and the icy 

 water, made progress difficult. I had advanced but a short distance, however, 

 when a goose flushed from her nest at the foot of a dead tree. This nest was 

 very similar to the first one found, and, like it, also held 7 eggs, but these 

 were considerably further along in incubation. On the homeward journey, 

 while returning through the marsh by a different channel, I beheld the snake- 

 like head of a goose above the tall grass (for the spring had been unusually 

 early) on a level tract some distance away. Approaching nearer, the bird took 

 flight, and on reaching the spot I found my third nest. As it contained 5 eggs 

 all on the point of hatching, I lost no time in allowing the parent to return. 



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Of his experiences the following year, he says : 



I found the goose colony to consist of but a single nest, placed on the bare 

 rock at the foot of a giant Jeffrey pine near the water's edge. It was made 

 entirely of pine needles, with the usual down lining, and held an addled egg, 

 while numerous sliells lay strewn about. The parents wore noticed about half 

 a mile down the bay. Two days later at Rowlands Marsh I located another 

 goose nest with the small compliment of 2 eggs, 1 infertile and 1 from which the 

 chick was just emerging. The nest was placed against a fallen log, and 

 besides the lining of down was composed entirely of chips of pine bark, a 

 quantity of which lay near. From the variety of material used in the composi- 

 tion of the nests found, it seems evident that the birds have little or nq 

 preference for any particular substance, but use that most easily available. 



A long day's work at the marsh on June 9 revealed three more nests. The 

 first of these, one with 6 eggs, well incubated, was the most perfectly built 



