GREATER SNOW GOOSE. 49 



The nest of the greater snow goose, as described by 

 Mr. Macfarlane, consists merely of a hollow or depres- 

 sion in the soil, lined with down and feathers. The 

 eggs are large and are yellowish-white. 



All these interior geese, such as the blue goose and 

 all the white geese, are known among the Indians and 

 Hudson's Bay people of the north as wavies, the blue 

 goose being called the blue wavy, the snow goose the 

 large wavy, and Ross's goose the small wavy. The 

 larger snow goose is common in Alaska. They do not 

 breed in the neighborhood of the Yukon, but proceed 

 further north to rear their young. The fall migration 

 takes place in September, and by the end of that month 

 all the snow geese are gone. In summer they proceed 

 as far south as Texas and Cuba, where they are re- 

 ported as abundant. 



As already remarked, snow geese are seen every win- 

 ter in the mouth of the Delaware, and also on the coast 

 of North Carolina, about Currituck Sound. 



The spectacle of a flock of these white geese flying is 

 a very beautiful one. Sometimes they perform remark- 

 able evolutions on the wing, and if seen at a distance 

 look like so many snowflakes being whirled hither and 

 thither by the wind. Scarcely less beautiful is the sight 

 which may often be seen in the Rocky Mountain region 

 during the migration. As one rides along under the 

 waVm October sun he may have his attention attracted 

 by sweet, faint, distant sounds, interrupted at first, and 

 then gradually coming nearer and clearer, yet still only 

 a murmur ; the rider hears it from above, before, behind 



