THE CANADA GOOSE. 827 



each goose to look over the wing of the one next preceding, right or left, 

 according to the branch of the V which it occupies. The line of march shifts 

 and changes under the eye, as the hindmost birds become dissatisfied with 

 their positions, and change sides, or as tired leaders give place to fresher 

 birds ; and the changes are accomplished not without much lordly discussion 

 in high-pitched honks. 



In Washington the typical honker is found chiefly east of the Cascade 

 Mountains, and it is there a much more familiar object than is the related 

 P. c. occidciifalis in the Pacific Coast region. It formerly nested in fair 

 abundance in the vicinity of all the larger lakes as well as by the rivers, but 

 latterly it has been more and more nearly confined in its summer range to the 

 vallevs of the Columbia and the Snake with their larger tributaries. The 

 islands and shores of the two ri\-ers nametl have been dedicated by the State 

 as an asvlum for the Geese at all seasons, and their use of these sanctuaries 

 both at nesting time and for winter roosting is very gratifying. The nesting 

 birds, howe\'er, are but a tithe of the winter population and this in turn I)ut a 

 small per cent of the birds which pass on in fall and spring after they have 

 had a taste of our Washington wheat. 



Like all geese, this species feeils widely upon tender herbage, berries, 

 sedge-roots, and such aquatic fare of plants and insects as may chance, but for 

 a steadv diet the Honker asks no better fare than the spilled grain of the Big 

 Bend and Palouse wheatfields in the fall, or the tender sprouts of the Horse 

 Heaven country in spring. The Geese are \'ery regular about their meals, 

 rising punctuallv at daybreak and flying inland to feed for two or three hours 

 in the grain fields. The middle of the day is passed quietly about some pond 

 or in the enjovment of one-legged slumbers on the sand-bars of the Columbia. 

 Hunger drives them to forage again late in the afternoon, usually at the same 

 spot \-isited in the morning, and if undisturl^ed they may linger somewhat into 

 the night, ^^'hile in flocks, the Geese are exceedingly \'igilant and wary, and 

 to approach them within gunshot in the open is next to an impossibility. 



Their suspicion of all mankintl is deeply planted and freshl}' watered, but 

 the goose psychology works under several limitations. A lone Goose, for 

 instance, having none to counsel him, appears at times to be quite incapable of 

 making decision and allows the fatal approach of the hunter. The situation is 

 still further compromised if the lone bird happens to alight among decoys. 

 "It's plvmib scandalous," reasons the bird, "the man is coming and these birds 

 stand here like clods. But they ought to know; they were here first." And 

 the real bird awaits his doom. Mr. Bowles once killed a perfectly able-bodied 

 bird, under such circumstances, with a stone. 



They are not afraid of cattle either, and a pasturing flock may sometimes 

 be approached by a hunter who stalks beside a led horse or cow. Sometimes 

 a young heifer will resent the intrusion of wild ducks or geese upon her 



