LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WIU) FOWL 217 



species of geese, ducks, and other v>^aterfowl, it never seems to mingle 

 with them socially or to alloAv them to join its flocks. Toward man 

 and other animals it shows remarkable sagacity in discriminating be- 

 tween harmless friends and dangerous enemies, and the latter must 

 be very crafty to deceive it. On this point Audubon (1840) writes: 



At the sight of cattle, horses, or animals of the deer kind, they are seldom 

 alarmed, but a bear or a cougar is instantly announced, and if on such oc- 

 casions the flock is on the ground near water, the birds immediately betake 

 themselves in silence to the latter, swim to the middle of the pond or 

 river, and there remain until danger is over. Should their enemies pursue them 

 in the water, the males utter loud cries, and the birds arrange themselves 

 in close ranks, rise simultaneously in a few seconds, and fly off in a compact 

 body, seldom at such times forming lines or angles, it being in fact only 

 when the distance they have to travel is great that they dispose themselves 

 in those forms. So acute is their sense of hearing that they are able to dis- 

 tinguish the different sounds or footsteps of their foes with astonishing ac- 

 curacy. Thus the breaking of a dry stick by a deer is at once distinguished 

 from the same accident occasioned by a man. If a dozen of large turtles drop 

 into the water, making a great noise in their fall, or if the same effect is 

 produced by an alligator, the wild goose pays no regard] to it; but however 

 faint and distant may be the sound of an Indian's paddle, that may by acci- 

 dent have struck the side of his canoe, it is at once marked, every individ- 

 ual raises its head and looks intently toward the place from which the noise 

 has proceeded, and in silence all watch the movements of their enemy. 



These birds are extremely cunning also, and should they conceive themselves 

 unseen, they silently move into the tall grasses by the margin of the water, 

 lower their heads, and lie perfectly quiet until the boat has passed by. I have 

 seen them walk olf from a large frozen pond into the woods, to elude the sight 

 of the hunter, and return as soon as he had crossed the pond. But should there 

 be snow on the ice or in the woods, they prefer watching the intruder, and 

 take to wing long before he is within shooting distance, as if aware of the ease 

 with which they could be followed by their tracks over the treacherous sur- 

 face. 



Fall. — The beginning of the fall migration in Ungava is described 

 by Lucien M. Turner, in his unpublished notes, as follows : 



The birds first seen in the fall in the vicinity of Fort Chimo are those as- 

 serted to have been reared in the Georges River district and repair to this 

 locality in search of fresh feeding grounds. They appear about August 12 to 

 20, but are in very lean condition. By the first of September the earlier birds 

 hatched north of the strait begin to appear and become quite numerous by 

 the latter week of September. By this time they are in tolerable condition and 

 rapidly become fat by the first of October, feeding on vegetable matter growing 

 in the ponds, in the swamps and flats along the river banks. They remain until 

 the latter part (24th) of October and follow up the rivers which flow from the 

 south. In the year 1882 immense numbers of these geese flew southward on 

 the 19th of October. Hundreds of flocks of various sizes, from 15 to 80 birds, 

 passed over. A cold snap immediately succeeded, although a flock of 6 settled 

 in the river a few yards from the houses on October 24. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that the fall movement from 

 the breeding grounds begins early in the season, the flocks gradually 



