208 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



nest of the goose that I have ever seen, being constructed with all the care 

 that most of the smaller birds exercise. It was made principally of dry 

 marsh grasses. The second nest held a set of 5 eggs, and was placed by a 

 small willow on a little mound of earth rising in a tule patch in a secluded 

 portion of the swamp. Dry tules entered largely into its composition. In 

 this instance the bird did not rise until we were within 25 feet, although 

 they usually flushed at a distance varying from 40 to 100 feet. 



In the Rocky Mountain regions of Colorado and Montana the 

 Canada goose has been known to build its nest, sometimes for suc- 

 cessive seasons, on rocky ledges or cliffs at some distance from any 

 water or even at a considerable height. In the northwestern por- 

 tions of the country it frequently nests in trees, using the old nests 

 of ospreys, hawks, or other large birds; it apparently does not build 

 any such nest for itself, but sometimes repairs the nest by bringing 

 in twigs and lining it with down. John Fannin (1894) says that 

 in the Okanogan district of British Columbia, " Canada geese are 

 particularly noted for nesting in trees, and as these valleys are sub- 

 ject to sudden inundation during early spring, this fact may have 

 something to do with it." He also relates the following interesting 

 incident : 



Mr. Charles deB. Green, who spends a good deal of his spare time in mak- 

 ing collections for the INIuseum, writes me from Kettle River, Okanogan dis- 

 trict, British Columbia, to the effect that while climbing to an osprey's nest he 

 was surprised to find his actions resented by not only the ospreys but also by 

 a pair of Canada geese (Branta canadensis), the latter birds making quite 

 a fuss all the time Mr. Green was in the tree. On reaching the nest he was 

 still furtlier surprised to find 2 osprey eggs and 3 of the Canada goose. He 

 took the 2 osprey's eggs and 2 of the geese eggs. This was on the 1st of 

 May. On the 12th of May he returned and found the osprey setting on the 

 goose egg; the gee.se were nowhere in sight. Mr. Green took the remaining 

 egg and sent the lot to the Museum. 



A. D. Henderson has sent me the following notes on the nesting 

 habits of the Canada goose, in the Peace River region of northern 

 Alberta, as follows: 



The geese breed on the small gravelly islands in the Battle River and its 

 two tributaries, known at that time as the Second and Third Battle Rivers. 

 Another favorite breeding place is in old beaver dams, where they nest on 

 the old sunken beaver houses, which in course of time have flattened down 

 into small grass-covered islets. Even inhabited beaver houses are used as 

 nesting sites, as my half-breed hunting partner, on one of our trips, took 5 

 eggs from a nest on a large beaver house in an old river bed of the Third 

 Battle, which we repeatedly saw entered and left by a family of beaver, 

 showing that the geese and beaver live together in unity. 



On May 18 I found a nest containing 7 eggs on a low grassy islet, prob- 

 ably a very old beaver house, in the same flooded beaver meadow. The nest 

 was made of grass lined with finer grasses and feathers. The sitting bird 

 permitted a near approach, with her head and neck stretched out straight 

 In front of her and lying flat along the ground, watching my approach. This 



