80 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



3.30 long by 2.05 to 2.10 broad. They are elliptical in shape, dull 

 greenish-yellow with obscure darker tints. 



172. Branta canidensis (Linn.) [594.] 



Canada Goose. 



Hab. Temperate North America, breeding in the Northern United States and British Provinces; 

 south in winter to Mexico. 



The Common Wild Goose of North America, in its various forms 

 and great extremes of size, is generally distributed throughout the 

 continent at large, B. canidensis proper, breeding, as indicated in 

 the above habitat.* It is the most abundant of our geese. Large 

 numbers may be seen during the spring and fall migrations flying 

 overhead in wedge-shaped flocks, with an old gander always in the lead 

 at the apex of the triangle, frequently uttering the sonorous ho7ik^ 

 honk^ which is often heard at a great height. In many places they 

 breed in captivity with the common domestic goose, producing a 

 hybrid bird much esteemed for the table. It has been learned from 

 birds in confinement that none of them lay until three years old ^ 

 the first season four eggs are laid, five the second season, and when 

 older six and seven. f 



Dr. Coues alludes to the breeding of the Canada Goose in trees in 

 various parts of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone regions. t Breed- 

 ing grounds, inundated along the banks of streams, have at times 

 caused the birds to resort to trees for the purpose of nesting, some 

 making use of Herons' and Ravens' nests. § Nests of the Canada 

 Goose in Dakota are usually situated far away from water on the 

 prairies. 



Dr. Merrill found this species breeding on the Upper Missouri, 

 Yellowstone, and Big Horn Rivers, where their favorite nesting sites 

 were on the numerous low sandy islands in these rivers, covered in 

 the higher parts with a growth of young willows. Their nests were 

 simply a hollow in the sand, around which was placed a few sticks and 

 twigs, and the eggs lay on a layer of gray down. Nests were found 

 on the tops of broken trunks of trees ; one on a rocky ledge three 

 hundred yards from the river ; another was made on a pile of brush 

 that had collected in the top of a fallen tree that had floated down and 

 lodged near the middle of the river ; some nests were placed on the 

 high banks among high grass, or on piles of drift-wood. By the first 

 of May the nests contained the full complement of eggs, generally five 



<'The form Branta canidensis occidentalis ( Eaird ) occurs in Pacific coast region, from Sitka south, in 

 winter to California. It is larger and the coloration darker. 



fWm. Butcher, in The Auk. Vol. II., p. 111. ^ 



X Birds of the Northwest. Pp. 554-555. 



gCapt. Chas.'E. Bendire: Bull. Nutt. Club. Vol. I., p. 50. 



