LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 259 



Nesting. — The breeding grounds of tlie barnacle goose have only 

 recently been found; the following quotation from A. L. V. Man- 

 niche (1910) seems to indicate that the species breeds abundantly in 

 northeastern Greenland. He writes: 



June S and 9, lOOS, I got my first opportunity to stu(T^' the barnacles in their 

 real nesting territory. Up to this time the geese had led a comfortable and by 

 me unsuspected existence in a lonely marsli and moor territory far up country — 

 10 to 15 kilometers from the nearest salt water — east of Saelsoen, imposing by 

 its extent and grandness of scenery. This territory, the farthest extent of 

 which is in a northerly direction, comprises an area of some 20 square kilo- 

 meters ; on the north it is bordered by a mountain range, the lower slopes of 

 which are covered by a vegetation more luxuriant than I saw in any other 

 place in northeast Greenland. 



To the east and north the marshes lose themselves in barren stony plains 

 sprinkled with sandy spots and a few deep lying fresh-water basins bare of 

 all vegetation. To the south the steep and barren mountain of Trekroner 

 rises to a height of 360 meters in small terraced projections. 



In the marsh and moor itself the vegetation was extremely luxuriant ; as 

 well the alpine willow as other plants reached here a relatively gigantic 

 size. All over the snow had melted, though it was early in the season, and 

 the place offered an increased allurement to the swimmers and waders by the 

 countless ponds of melting snow. The influence of the powerful sunlight on 

 the dark turfy soil surely accounts for the unusually early melting of the 

 snow in this place. 



At my arrival the barnacles were standing in couples or ia small flocks 

 in the ponds or they were grazing near these ; some were high up the mountain 

 slopes. Almost all the geese used to leave the marsh every day at certain 

 times and disappeared southwards toward the high middle part of Trekroner. 

 I set out in this direction, thinking that a larger lake was lying near the 

 mountain, and that the geese retired to this after their meal. I really found 

 a pair of larger fresh-water basins and saw in the.se a few geese, which being 

 frightened flew farther toward the mountains. Having come within a distance 

 of one kilometer from Trekroner I solved the riddle. The barnacles were 

 swarming to and fro along the gigantic mountain wall like bees at their hive, 

 and I heard a continuous humming, sounding like a distant talk. I took a 

 seat at the foot of the mountain and observed the behavior of the geese for 

 some hours. Using my field glass I could without difficulty notice even the 

 smallest details. 



While some of the geese would constantly fly along the rocky wall and 

 sometimes mounted so high in the air that they disappeared on the other 

 side of the rocks, the majority of the birds were sitting in couples upon the 

 shelves of the rocky wall, some of which seemed too narrow to give room for 

 the two birds — much less for a nest. It was only on the steep and absolutely 

 naked middle part of the mountain wall that the geese had their quarters 

 and in no place lower than some 200 meters from the base of the cliff. As the 

 wall was quite inaeces.sible, I had to content myself by firing some rille balls 

 against it in order to frighten the birds and thus form an idea of the size 

 of the colony. The birds which were " at home " then numbered some 150 

 individuals. As far as I could judge, breeding had not yet commenced. 



I feel sure that some of the geese resorted to the mountain without intend- 

 ing to breed. A pair of females, which I later on secured in the marsh, had 



