224 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



time that the snow geese are migrating ; probably both of these hardy 

 northerners Iniow enough not to migrate until their summer homes 

 become habitable. The migration is about due northward on both 

 sides of the Rocky Mountains, through the interior vallej^s to the 

 Arctic coast, and along the Pacific slope to northern Alaska. 



Nesting. — MacFarlane (1891) found this goose breeding abun- 

 dantly on the Arctic coast, of which he says : 



A large number (50) of nests of the smaller Canada goose was found on the 

 Lower Anderson, as well as on the shores and islands of the Arctic Sea. All 

 but one were placed on the earth, and, like that of the preceding species, it 

 was composed of hay, feathers, and down, while 6 was the usual number of 

 eggs. The exceptional case was a female parent shot while sitting on 4 eggs 

 in a deserted crow's or hawk's nest built on the fork of a pine tree at a height 

 of about 9 feet. At the time the ground in the vicinity thereof was covered 

 with snow and water, and this may have had something to do with her nesting 

 in so unusual a place. 



In a letter to the Smithsonian Institution he writes : 



I have no doubt about Ilutchins goose being a good species; its mode of 

 nesting alone would go far to prove it distinct from the Canada goose, which 

 it so greatly resembles. The former, so far as I have been able to ascertain, 

 invariably nests on the small islands which occur on the small lakes of the 

 islands situated on the shores of the Arctic Sea, while the latter generally 

 builds in the neighborhood of the lakes and rivers of the wooded country. 

 The former also scoops a hole in the sand or turf, lining its sides with down, 

 while the nest of the latter is composed of a large quantity of feathers and 

 down placed on or supported by some dry twigs or willow branches. 



I have had several sets of eggs of the Hutchins goose sent to me 

 from Point Barrow, which were evidently taken from nests on the 

 tundra, for the nesting down, which came from them, was mixed 

 with tundra mosses, bits of grass, leaves, and other rubbish. Nests 

 of the Canada goose generally contain pure, clean down. 



Eggs. — The Hutchins goose lays from 4 to 6 eggs, usually 5. 

 These are in no way distinguishable from the eggs of the Canada goose 

 except that they are smaller, as they should be. The measurements 

 of 83 eggs, in various collections, average 79. 2 by 53.1 millimeters; 

 the eggs showing the four extremes measure 85.4 by 57, 78.5 by 58, 

 72.1 by 53.1, and 76 by 50 millimeters. 



Food. — The food and feeding habits of this goose are similar to 

 those of its well-known relative. Nuttall (1834), however, calls 

 attention to the fact that their habits " are dissimilar, the Canada 

 geese frequenting the fresh-water lakes and rivers of the interior, 

 and feeding chiefly on herbage ; while the present species are always 

 found on the seacoast, feeding on marine plants, and the mollusca 

 which adhere to them, whence their flesh acquires a strong fishy 

 taste." Dr. J. G. Cooper (1860) says: " The}^ feed principally on 

 the mud flats at low tide, eating vegetable and animal food which 



