CANADA GOOSE. 63 



Hutchins's goose, though so Hke the Canada goose in 

 coloring, differs from it in habits. Its breeding place 

 is further to the North, and is on the coast near the salt 

 water. There their nests are usually constructed in 

 marshes near the sea, but Audubon quotes Captain 

 Ross as stating that they sometimes breed on ledges of 

 the cliffs. In winter this species is found in California 

 and in Texas ; and on the Pacific coast great numbers 

 are killed from blinds, and also from behind domestic 

 animals, trained to approach them gradually, as if feed- 

 ing. Hutchins's goose is common in Alaska, and is re- 

 ported there by all the explorers. Mr. Macfarlane 

 found them also breeding on the shores and islands of 

 the Arctic Sea. 



Whether Hutchins's goose is found at all on the 

 North Atlantic coast appears to be an unsettled ques- 

 tion. The books and the gunners alike state that it 

 used to be found there, but if it occurs at present it is 

 very unusual. 



Like the Canada goose, Hutchins's goose some- 

 times has its nest in trees. A case of this kind is cited 

 by Dr. Brewer, who states that in one instance four 

 eggs of this species were found in the deserted nest of 

 a crow or hawk, built on the fork of a pine tree and at 

 a height of nine feet. The parent bird was shot on the 

 nest. 



Besides the ordinary book names applied to this 

 species, Mr. Gurdon Trumbull, in his admirable 

 "Names and Portraits of Birds," quotes Eskimo goose, 

 mud goose, goose brant, marsh goose and prairie goose, 



