WILD GEESE. 253 



patch in the center and on the sides, and the collar on 

 the nape is interrupted behind by an isthmus of black. 



This species is so mucli attached to the sea-coast that 

 it rarely resorts to inland streams or tarns, its favorite 

 habitat being the salt marshes and tidewater lands where 

 it can find eel-grass and kindred vegetation. It travels 

 in small strings when migrating, and generally keeps 

 along the coast, so as to he ready to drop to the land when 

 it is fatigued or it desires to seek shelter from a fierce 

 storm of wind. I have found it over two hundred miles 

 from salt water, however, and from this I should infer 

 that it will feed and thrive on the aquatic plants that 

 grow in lakes and rivers. I have also seen it mingled 

 with gulls, ducks, and other birds occasionally; it can, 

 therefore, change its habits, if forced to do so by circum- 

 stances, for it is naturally so unsociable as to avoid all 

 contact with others of the feathered creation. I have 

 heard cattle-ranchers say that it breeds as far south as 

 the California line, and that its nests may he found in 

 the Klamath Basin, in Oregon, which has an altitude of 

 nearly five thousand feet above the level of the sea. This 

 seems probable, as the climate of that region, owing to 

 its elevation, is very cool in summer, and the surround- 

 ing country abounds with lakes, which produce many 

 species of water-plants in profusion. Nearly every spe- 

 cies of aquatic or wading bird on the North Pacific Coast 

 may be seen in that wild retreat during the breeding 

 season, for the marshes are so thronged with nests that 

 it is almost impossible for a person to i3ass through them 

 without treading on eggs or young birds. 



The Canada goose {Branta canadensis) is the most 

 widely distributed species of its family, being found in 

 every part of Canada and the United States, except the 

 extreme southern regions of the latter country. It is 

 also one of the largest and handsomest members of its 

 race, and is not excelled by any of its wild congeners \n, 



