GEESE 



163 



EMPEROR GOOSE 

 Philacte canagica {Scz'aslianotf) 



A. O. U. Number 176 



Other Names. — Painted Goose; Beach Goose. 



General Description. — Length, j8 inches. Head and 

 tail, vvliite: body, bluish-gray. Bill, small and but little 

 elevated at base. 



Color. — ^ Adults: Head, sides and back of neck, and 

 tail, white, the first two tinged with amber-yellow ; 

 throat, blackish ; rest of plumage, bluish-gray ; feathers 

 above and below with black subterminal crescents white- 

 tipped, producing a scaly appearance ; bill, flesh color 

 with white tip ; feet, orange-yellow ; iris, brown. 

 Young: Head, dusky speckled with white on top; 

 otherwise similar to adult. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A dcjiression on marshy 

 islands bordering the sea. at first without semblance of 

 nesting material, but as the number of eggs to be laid 

 nears completion, the depression is lined with grass, 

 leaves, and down. Eggs : 3 to 8, dull whitish. 



Distribution. — Coasts of Alaska; breeds from Kot- 

 zebue Sound south to mouth of Kuskokwim. on St. 

 Lawrence Island, and also on Chukchi Peninsula, 

 Siberia, near East Cape; winters from the Commander 

 and Near islands east through the Aleutians to Bristol 

 Bay and Sitka; casual in British Columbia and 

 California; accidental in Hawaii. 



Edward W. Nelson, who made a special study 

 of the Emperor Goose in Alaska, and prepared 

 for the National Association of -Audubon 

 Societies a leaflet in which he records some of 

 his interesting observations, says that this is the 

 " least known and the most beautiful " of all 

 the wild geese which make their summer home 

 in the Far North, in both the Old and the New 

 worlds. For these reasons it seems proper to 

 give here some account of the bird, even though 

 its visits to the United States proper are confined 

 to occasional appearances in northern California. 



The main wintering place of the Emperor 

 Goose, according to Mr. Nelson, appears to be 

 on the southern side of the Peninsula of Alaska 

 and the .A.leutian Islands, where the .Aleuts know 

 it as the " Beach Goose." The Eskimos of 

 the Yukon delta Mr. Nelson found wearing 

 " parkies " or outer garments made of the skins 

 of Emperor Geese, sewed together. Their native 

 name for the bird is " nachau-thluk," As to his 

 observations of the bird's habits in the Yukon 

 region Mr. Nelson writes; 



"At first the Emperor Geese were difficult to 

 ajiproach, but as their numbers increased they 

 became less shy. When on the wing, they were 

 easily distinguished from the other Geese, even 

 at considerable distances, by their proportion- 

 ately shorter necks and heavier bodies, as well 

 as by their short, rapid wing-strokes, resembling 

 those of the Black Brant. Like the latter, they 

 usually flew near the ground, rarely more than 

 thirty vards high, and commonly so close to the 

 ground that their wing-tips almost touched the 

 surface on the down stroke. While flying from 

 place to place, they give at short intervals a 

 harsh, strident call of two svllables, like kla-Iia, 



kla-lia. kla-Iia, entirely dilTerent from the note 

 of any other Goose I have ever heard. They are 

 much less noisy than either the White-fronted or 

 Cackling Geese, which often make the tundra 

 resound with their e.xcited cries. 



" Almost at once after their arrival on the 

 islands, the Emjjeror Geese appeared to be mated, 

 the males walking around the females, swinging 

 their heads and uttering low love notes ; and 

 incoming flocks quickly disintegrated into pairs 

 which moved about together, though often con- 

 gregating with many others on flats and sand- 

 bars. The male was extremely jealous and pug- 

 nacious, however, and immediately resented the 

 slightest approach of another toward his choice ; 

 and this spirit was shown equally when an indi- 

 vidual of another species chanced to come near. 

 \\ hen a pair was feeding, the male moved rest- 

 lessly about, constantly on the alert, and at the 

 first alarm the pair drew near one another, and 

 just before takitig wing uttered a deep, ringing 

 H-higli, ii-linjli; these, like the flight-notes, hav- 

 ing a peculiar deep tone imj)ossible to describe. 

 At low tide, as soon as the shore ice disappeared, 

 the broad mud-flats along shore were thronged 

 with them in pairs and in groups. They were 

 industriously dabbling in the mud for food until 

 satisfied, and then congregated on bars, where 

 thev sat dozing in the sun or lazily arranging 

 their feathers. 



" Earlv in June, they began depositing eggs on 

 the flat, marshy islands bordering the sea. The 

 nests were most numerous a short distance back 

 from the muddy feeding-grounds, but stray pairs 

 were found nesting here and there farther inland. 

 One must have lain with neck outstretched on 

 the rrround, as I afterward fotind was their 



