96 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Ill <Jiit;irio the .Snow Goose can only be regarded as a casual 

 visitor (luring the season of migration, for its summer home, at-cord- 

 ing to Dr. Bell, is "still to the uoith of the icgioiis known ti> tlie 

 Eskimo," whence it retires to the south at the aj)proach of winter. 

 It is seen at different points in this province during spring and fall, 

 l)ut as there are seldom more than two oi- tln-ee together, they fire 

 regarded as stragglers fiom the main b(xly, whose line of migration 

 is along the Mississippi oi- the Pacific coast. The specimen in my 

 collection was killed at the Beach, in the month of Deeemlier, a 

 few years ago, wlii-le making its way tcjward the open water in Lake 

 Ontario. 



Dr. Macallum, speaking of the occurrence of this species at J)unn- 

 ville, says: "The Greater Snow Goose is often seen here in small Hocks 

 in the fall, when they fre<{uent fall-wheat fields near the lake, often 

 in company with the Canafla Geese. T have thiee sj)ecimens in my 

 collection taken iiei'e, two of which came u|) to farnu^s" Itarns with 

 the tame ducks aufl were domesticated." 



Sir John l^ichardson, in the Fduixi Hori'nh An/tricnita after 

 noting the alnnidaiice of these l)irds, continues: "The eggs, of a 

 yellowish-white coloi-, and regularly (jvate form, are a little laiger 

 than those of an Eider Duck, their length l)eing three inches and their 

 greatest breadth two. The y<jung Hy in August, and by the middle 

 of Septembei- all have departed southwai-d. 



"The Snow (Joose feeds on rushes, insects and, in autumn, on 

 Ijerries, particularly those of the ciiiix'tnnii iiiijriiit,. W hen well 

 fed it is a verv excellent bird, far supeiioi- to the Canada (ioose in 

 juiciness and tlaxor. It is said that the young do not attain their full 

 plumage befoie the fourth year, and until that period they appear to 

 keep in separate Hocks. They are numeious at Albany Fort, in the 

 southern pait of Hudson's Bay, where the old birds are rarely .seen, 

 and, on the other hand, the old birds in their migrations visit Yoi*k 

 Factory in great a))undance, l)ut are seldom accompanied by the 

 young." 



Samples of the eggs in the Smith.sonian Institute agree exactly 

 with the above description, but show the usual variation in size, 

 some being noticeably le.ss than three inch(^s in length l)y over tw(( 

 in breadth. 



The occurrence (jf om' sjicrimi'ii of the Lrssir Snow ( ioosc {('Inn 

 hi/ltcrhori'x) is i'ep(jrted bv Mi'. \^'. E. Saunders. 



