LESSER SNOW GOOSE 213 



or -westward over the Sierra Nevada. Belding (MS) noted flocks of 

 this species at Summit, Placer County, on October 5 and 10, 1885. 

 They were flying above the highest peaks westward from Nevada 

 toward California. They were again noted at the same place on 

 October 6, 1896, flying high and going toward the Sacramento Valley. 

 On April 8 and 16, 1886, tliousands of Avhitc geese were noted by the 

 same observer, at IMurphy's, Calaveras County, flying eastward over 

 the Sierras in the direction of Nevada. The earliest arrivals of this 

 species in west-central California, as noted by Belding, are: Stockton, 

 San Joaquin County, September 28, 1886, September 29, 1881, and 

 October 9, 1883; Gridley, Butte County, September 30, 1884. The 

 first flock seen at San Diego in the winter of 1883-84 was on February 

 17. The latest records are : Stockton, April 30, 1880 ; Gridley, April 

 28, 1884; Chico, Butte County, April 27, 1884; Gridley, May 1, 1896. 



Writing from the vicinity of Fresno, Tyler (1913&, p. 18) makes 

 the following statements: "White geese swarm by thousands on the 

 westside plains. No record has been obtained of their date of arrival 

 in the fall, but as late as April 7 (1906) they were congregated in 

 large numbers on several hundred acres of grassy pasture near the 

 Artesian Lake. Just before sundown, as I drove past, the ground 

 was white almost as far as one could see and the noise was deafening. 

 I have not had an opportunity of measuring any of these geese, but 

 there appears to be a great variation in size. During January large 

 flocks of Snow Geese move restlessly about, flying at a great height, 

 and generally traveling toward the north." 



The Lesser Snow' Goose feeds largely in grain fields and pastures 

 at night, spending the middle of the day on the sea or on some open 

 body of water. Beck (MS) says that in the vicinity of Los Baiios 

 this goose leaves for the grain fields early in the morning, returning 

 between ten and eleven o'clock, and spends the rest of the day in M^et 

 marshy places. One bird shot after returning from feeding in the 

 fields contained 1,581 grains of barley. On March 25, 1912, in the 

 same locality. Lesser Snow Geese w^ere seen feeding on the stalks of 

 "filaree." They bit off the tops and ate the roots as ^vell. One killed 

 had 500 of the stalks in its gullet (Beck, MS). 



Various kinds of ordinary grass form a large part of tliis bird 's food, at 

 least during their winter residence in the United States. . . . They alight 

 upon a meadow or plain, and pass over the ground in broken array, cropping 

 on either side as they go, with the peculiar tweak of the bill and quick jerk 

 of the neck familiar to all who have watched the barnyard birds when similarly 

 engaged (Coues, 1874, p. 552). 



While in California, this goose appears to feed largely on grass. 

 Coues (loc. cit.) says that the short turfy grasses are highly relished 



