98 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



" All through September, old and young, which have been on the 

 wing since August, gather in larger flocks, and as the sharp frosts 

 toward the end of September warn them of approaching winter, com- 

 mence moving south. The marshes resound with their cries, and 

 after some days of chattering, flying back and forth, and a general 

 bustle, they suddenly start off in considerable flocks, and the few 

 laggards which remain get away by the 7th or 8th of October," to 

 return again late in April or early in May, according to the season. 



Genus BRANTA Scopoli. 

 BRANTA CANADENSIS (Linn.). 



64. Canada Goose; Wild Goose. (172) 



Tail, normally, eighteen feathered. Grayish-brown, below paler or whitish- 

 gray, bleaching on the crissiim, all the feathers with lighter edges ; head and 

 neck, black, with a broad white patch on the throat mounting each side of the 

 liead ; tail, black, with white upper coverts. Length, about 36; wing, 18-20; 

 tail, 6^-7^; bill, I|-2; tarsus, usually over 3. 



Hab. — The whole of North America, breeding in the United States, as well 

 as further north. Accidental in Europe. 



Nests, usually a hollow in the sand, lined with down, and a few sticks 

 round the outer edge. Iia the "Birds of the North- West," Dr. Coues makes 

 mention of their breeding in trees in the upper Missouri and Yellowstone 

 regions, carrying their young to the water in their bill. 



Eggs, five, pale dull green. 



The Canada Goose is the most abundant and best known of its 

 class in Ontario. Early in April the A-shaped flocks are seen passing 

 on to their breeding grounds in the North- West, led by an experienced 

 gander, whose well-known call is welcomed b}^ the Canadian people 

 as the harbinger of spring. It is associated with the return of 

 warmer days, and the passing away of the ice which for so many 

 months has held everything under control. 



In former years the flocks used sometimes to settle in Hamilton 

 Bay, and similar places on their route, for rest and refreshments ; but 

 now their haunts have been invaded by trolley cars, electric lights, 

 telegraph wires and other innovations, which cause them to fly high 

 and to pass on with fewer stoppages. 



Their return in the fall is eagerly watched for at the shooting 

 stations; but so acute is their sense of hearing, and so careful are 



