118 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 



The knowledge which most people have of this species is limited to 

 these occasional glimpses as the birds pass overhead. Only in favor- 

 able localities do they alight, and then their stay is commonly of short 

 duration. During foggy weather or heavy storms they occasionally take 

 refuge in some small pond or river, but ordinarily they alight only on 

 one of the Great Lakes where they are fairly safe from approach. Of 

 course in certain places they stop to feed, frequenting stubble fields or 

 corn fields, but unless the conditions are unusually favorable their visits 

 to these places are made only in the morning or just at evening, and they 

 return to the open water when their hunger is satisfied, or sooner if they 

 are seriously disturbed. Probably a few spend the winter within our limits, 

 since flocks are occasionally seen passing over even in January and Febru- 

 ary. 



Formerly they doubtless nested more or less commonly all over the 

 state, and it is not impossible that single pairs may do so still in favorable 

 places. Dr. Atkins states that in August, 1883, a small flock passed over 

 his house in Locke, Ingham Co., and Major Boies states that he thinks 

 they breed sparingly in the neighborhood of Monosco Bay and Hay Lake, 

 St. Mary's River, and he saw old birds in midsummer on Hay Lake. 

 Kumhen and Hollister state that in Wisconsin "Fifty years ago it was a 

 common breeder in almost any swamp or large marsh, or on the prairie 

 sloughs. At present only scattered pairs nest as far south as the southern 

 third of the state." (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, p. 28). Butler says "They 

 still breed in some numbers in the Kankakee region and less frequently in 

 other favorable localities. They evidently begin nesting between April 15 

 and May 1, as nests with the full complement of eggs are usually found 

 from the first to the third week in May" (Birds of Indiana, 1897, p. 637). 



The Canada Goose commonly passes through Michigan during March 

 and April and again in October and November, mostly in the latter month. 

 The average date of first arrival for five years was March 5, at Petersburg, 

 Monroe Co., and March 13 at Battle Creek, while the average date for 19 

 years at various points in southern Michigan was March 14, and the earliest 

 arrival was February 13, 1890, at Petersburg. In the same region the 

 average date of last appearance in autumn is November 7, and the latest 

 date November 25, 1890. Mr. B. H. Swales says "This bird ahghts on 

 Lake St. Clair in large flocks in April, but is wild and seldom shot. A 

 large flock was seen feeding in a meadow at Lake St. Clair Flats, April 30, 

 1905 — a late record." According to A. C. Bent "In North Dakota, in the 

 Devils Lake region, the Canada Goose nests on islands in the larger lakes 

 and sloughs. It is a very early breeder, the eggs being laid early in May 

 and young generally out by June 1. The nest is a bulky mass of dead 

 flags placed on the ground and very little hollowed" (Auk, XIX, 173-174). 

 The eggs average 3.55 by 2.27 inches; they are white or greenish white, 

 and usually five or six constitute a set. 



The young are readily domesticated, but at least for several generations 

 it is necessary to clip their wings spring and fall lest they join some of the 

 flocks of their kindred passing over during migration. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: Entire head and neck black except for a white "cravat" formed by two con- 

 spicuous cheek patches, whicli usually unite on the throat; rarely an imperfect white 

 ring about the lower neck; upper parts mainly brown, all the feathers with light grayish 

 tips; rump and part of upper tail-coverts clear black, but the shorter coverts pure white, 



