[114] BIRDS OF OREGON 



appreciative eye as the wild music warns of the great V's of huge birds 

 moving over the city. Sadly reduced in numbers, as compared to former 

 years, these geese are still the greatest prize that can possibly fall to the 

 gun of a wild-fowler. Townsend first reported them from Oregon in 1839, 

 and ever since that time much has been written regarding their presence 

 here. 



Unlike all other geese and many ducks that breed entirely outside of 

 the State, this great bird still breeds in numbers in eastern Oregon, in the 

 great marshy areas of Harney and Warner Valleys, in Summer Lake, 

 Klamath County, and less frequently in smaller swampy areas or along 

 the larger streams. We have notes on eggs and newly hatched goslings 

 from Klamath, Lake, Harney, and Deschutes Counties. It also breeds in 

 small numbers on an island in the Columbia River east of The Dalles, 

 along the John Day River, and along the Snake River and its tributaries 

 near Ontario. We have frequently seen pairs of birds along these streams 

 through the summer but have not been able to approach their nests. It 

 is evident, therefore, that if we are so inclined, we can do something our- 

 selves to see that these wonderful wild fowl are protected and given a 

 chance to perpetuate themselves within the State borders. 



The birds mate for life, and nesting begins early. The nests are bulky 

 affairs of weeds, grass, or other vegetation with a slight depression in the 

 center to receive the big white eggs, most of which are laid in late March 

 and early April and vary in number from two to eight, usually three to 

 five. Furber, who was warden for years at Lower Klamath Lake, reported 

 newly hatched young on April 17, 1914, and April 2.0, 1915, and Gabriel- 

 son saw newly hatched young in Klamath County on April 19, 192.4, the 

 earliest dates on which young have been noted. As the period of incuba- 

 tion in this species is 2.8 to 30 days, this would place the period of laying 

 in mid-March. Jewett found a female sitting on seven eggs at Silver Lake, 

 April 8, 1919, and blew two sets of three and five eggs respectively, taken 

 at Adel, April 17, 192.7, in which incubation had just started. The latest 

 date is that of Prill, who collected a set of two half-incubated eggs in 

 Warner Valley on June 5, 19x2.. 



During July, the adults lose all the wing quills in the annual molt and 

 are unable to fly until the new feathers grow. At this time they seek the 

 thick tules and other vegetation in which to hide, although if pressed 

 on open ground they are able to run with amazing speed. When both 

 young and old are able to fly, the birds begin to gather into flocks that 

 wander over the adjacent country, feeding in the grainfields or pastures 

 and frequently doing considerable damage in the former. By September, 

 the exodus from the breeding grounds begins, the first flocks appearing 

 in western Oregon by mid-September and remaining until May (our 

 earliest date, September 4; latest, May 2.0). Most of the birds return to 

 the breeding grounds in March, only stragglers remaining later than mid- 



