24 Phillips, Problems in Migration. [jan. 



worth guessing at until further data are available. It is not 

 possible that they can ever reach the coast of Australia, as the 

 avifauna there is so well known that even as stragglers they could 

 not escape detection. The coast of New Guinea is also fairly well 

 known, but the Solomon Islands are as yet only imperfectly ex- 

 plored, though American ducks along the coasts ought certainly 

 to have been reported. 



A brief investigation makes me very skeptical of the presence of 

 an oceanic feeding place. There is no large windless area in the 

 Polynesian Sea, at least not during the winter months, and it is 

 almost beyond belief that Teal, or Canvas-backs either, could lead 

 a really oceanic life for any length of time. Moreover, the ocean 

 south of the Marshalls is very deep, and the borders of the coralline 

 atolls offer a very unattractive vegetable supply. The surface 

 flora of these seas is not rich, and there is no indication of a sar- 

 gasso sea. 



II. Behavior and Makeup of the Migrating Flocks of 

 Canada Geese. 



In 'The Auk' for July, 1910, I called attention to a peculiar 

 action of migrating Canada Geese, long familiar to those who have 

 shot geese over live decoys. At that time I saw nothing significant 

 in this behavior, but, looking at it in a different way, it seems 

 at least worth recording again. 



The facts referred to are the following. Canada geese {Branta 

 canadensis) migrate in large and small flocks, and they are decoyed 

 down to some of the Massachusetts ponds which happen to be 

 situated on favorite flight lines, by the use of an elaborate system 

 of live and wooden decoys. Manj^ of the wild geese would not 

 alight in the ponds at all, were it not for the irresistible attraction 

 of the decoys. The nature of geese is, of course, exceedingly wild. 

 They usually alight well out in the pond, and, after a varying period, 

 swim towards the decoy geese on the shore. At such a time the 

 slightest disturbance will alarm them. A distant boat, a gun shot, 

 a person walking along the shore, or a noise from the shooting stand 

 will result either in their taking to wing and continuing their flight, 

 or in keeping them in the middle of the pond, suspicious of the 

 surroundings. 



