no 1727. BIRDS OF THE J90G "ALBATROSS " CRUISE— CL IRK. 47 



at Attn and Agattu. It was also rather common at sea when we 

 were off the mouth of the Columbia River. 



Sul>laiiiily- ansh;km ntje. 

 BRANTA CANADENSIS HUTCHINSII (Richards). 

 HUTCHINS' GOOSE. 



This goose is the most abundant bird on Agattu, where it breeds 

 by thousands. When we approached the shore we saw a number of 

 geese living about the cliffs and bluffs, and soaring in circles high in 

 air. On landing I walked up the beach to the left and soon came 

 to a small stream which enters the sea through a gap in the high 

 bluffs, when I saw fifty or more of these birds along the bank preening 

 their feathers. From this point I walked inland over the rough 

 pasture-like country toward a lake where this stream rises. Geese 

 were seen on all sides in great abundance, walking about the grassy 

 hillsides in companies of six or eight to a dozen, or flying about from 

 one place to another. When on the ground they were comparatively 

 shy; at about 100 yards distant they would stop feeding and watch 

 my movements; at about 50 yards they generally took wing; but 

 instead of flying away they would circle about and fly toward me, 

 often not more than 10 feet over my head, as if to see what sort of a 

 strange beast it was which thus intruded on their domains. I shot 

 nine, using merely a very light charge of powder with an ounce of 

 No. 10 shot which I had brought with me for the purpose of securing 

 specimens of song sparrows (Melospiza) and longspurs (Calcarius); 

 even with that light load I secured two at one discharge of my 

 12-bore. I believe I could have killed a hundred or more in the 

 course of a morning's walk had there been any object in so doing. 

 The actions of these geese on this seldom visited and desolate island 

 reminded me of the accounts given by travelers who have visited 

 Kerguelen of the habits of the native teal (Daflhtla eatoni) there. 

 Although common on the seashore, these geese were more abundant 

 inland, especially in marshy places, and where there was an abundant 

 growth of long rank grass. 



When I had gone inland between a mile and a mile and a half from 

 the sea, a recall was blown from the ship, as a strong breeze had 

 come up from the sea which made the anchorage unsafe, and I was 

 forced to take a bee line to the beach, abandoning my geese, which 

 I had "cached" along the route by which I had come, to be picked 

 up on my return. On reaching the beach I sent a sailor back to my 

 nearest pile of birds, consisting of four of these geese, three Lams ijUdi- 

 eescens, some puffins (Lunda cirrhata) and other Alcidae, and a few 

 ducks, and he soon returned with the ^ccsc and gulls. T found il 

 impossible to prepare the skins of any large birds that evening, so 

 thoy were stewed away until such a time as I could find leisure 



