102 



NESTS AND EGGS OF 



finement. In Great Britain it is a winter visitant. During ttie migrations it is 

 said to be found in great numbers along the coast of Norway, and at these seasons 

 it is stated to be abundant in Holland, France and Germany. It is said to occur 

 during the breeding season in Northern Siberia. The shores of the White Sea to the 

 eastward are supposed to be the great breeding places of this bird.* The eggs are 

 grayish-white and measure 3.71x2.38. 



176. EMPEROR GOOSE. Philacte camCffica (Sevast.) Geog. Dist.— Coast and 

 islands of Alaska north of the Peninsula; chiefly about Norton Sound and Valley of 

 the Lower Yukon; Commander Islands, Kamtchatka; casually southward to Hum bolt 

 Bay, California. 



Among the various species of birds more or less peculiar to Alaska, says Mr. 

 Nelson, this goose is perhaps the most noteworthy. This author and naturalist lay 

 camped on a lonely islet in the middle of the Yukon delta for the purpose of gaining 

 some knowledge of the habits of these geese and other water fowl during the last of 

 May and first of June. The birds arrive about those periods. Early in June the 



176. Emi'eror Goose. 



Emperor Goose begins to deposit eggs on the flat, marshy islands bordering the sea. 

 On June 5 a female was found setting upon her eggs on a little knoll, near by a 

 small fragment of bleached driftwood. The nest contained three eggs. They rested 

 in a depression with no sign of a lining. Other nests were found and the birds each 

 time betrayed them by flying off with a startled cry. The majority of the nests con- 

 tained from three to five eggs, the full complement usually ranging from five to eight. 

 The eggs are absolutely indistinguishable from those of the White-fronted Goose, 

 and in form and measurements present a wide range of variation; some are much 

 elongated, while others are slightly pyriform. As usually taken from the nests they 

 are of a dirty brownish-white, but when fresh are nearly pure white. As the com- 

 plement of eggs approaches completion the parent makes a bed of leaves, fine grass 

 and feathers plucked from her own breast. The eggs vary in size from 3.28x2.22 to 

 3.03x2.00. 



* Yarrell, III, p. 74. 



