216 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



to their feet again. They do this on the ice, on stony baulis of streams, on 

 bowlders, on sandbars, in the grass, and I liave even seen a sitting bird do it 

 on her nest. On the ice it makes tliem inconspicuous, on stony shores or 

 bowlders the deception is perfect, for the rounded gray back looks just like a 

 stone ; as sand beaches may have stones, the method is good hiding tliere ; but 

 on the grass " playing possum " fails because of the contrast. In the water's 

 edge the deception is good, as the inert, idly rocking body looks very little like 

 a live bird. And this method is carried even further, for I have seen geese 

 swim the Yellowstone River with heads and necks at the surface and have had 

 them sneak off through the grass in the same way. This subterfuge is used 

 more in spring than in summer, but is practiced sometimes in September and 

 October. 



Geese are social and like to be together, althotigh the flocks are usually 

 small unless there is strong re.ason for their gathering temporarily. Pages 

 can be written of the sagacity and wisdom of these birds. Wary as they are, 

 they are one of the first to realize the protection given them and are quick to 

 lose their suspicions of man and his wa3's. But it is interesting to observe that 

 although they pay no attention to autos passing along a road near them, they 

 are at once on the alert and suspicious if a car stops near. Often we find the 

 geese tamer than the pintail and mallard they are associating with. And 

 their sagacity extends to wild animals as well ; they know just how near it 

 is safe to let a coyote approach, and one September day I watched a flock on 

 a meadow seemingly indifferent to a black bear near by, although they never 

 let him get within 20 feet, first walking away, then flying, if he came too near. 



The well-knoAvn resonant honldn*^ notes of a fiock of geese flying 

 overhead on the migration are familiar sounds to every observant 

 person; they are characteristic and distinctive of such migrating 

 flocks and are sometimes almost constant. The Canada goose is also 

 a noisy bird at other times, indulging freely in softer, lovrer-toned, 

 conversational honking or gabbling notes while feeding or in other 

 activities. Ora W. Kjiight (1908) gives a very good description of 

 the notes of this species, as follows : 



The cry uttered when on the wing is a clear trumpetlike " honk," seemingly 

 uttered by various individuals in the flock. When the weather is foggy their 

 " honk " seems uttered more frequently and in a querulous tone. When a 

 flock has alighted and is sporting in the water without apprehension of trouble 

 they swim gracefully about, plunging their heads and necks under the water 

 to feed. Now and then some lusty or exuberant individual (probably a 

 gander) will stretch itself up in the water, flap its wings over its back, and 

 utter a series of resonant honks, the first loudest, longest drawn out, and 

 highest pitched, and gradually lessening in loudness and length and decreasing 



in pitch, about as follows : "h o n Jc, h o n k, h — o — n — fc, 



Jt^o-n-k, honk, onk, uf," the last note being a mere expelling of the breath. 

 This proceeding I have only observed with one flock, never having been able to 

 observe others while they were unconscious of my whereabouts and feeding, 

 but judge that it is a characteristic habit. 



The attitude of the Canada goose toward other species seems 

 to be one of haughty disdain; although it often frequents the same 

 breedins: erounds and the same feeding resorts with various other 



