4lf 





Arctic SL In July. after the young birds are hatched, the parent* 

 moult, and nut number, are killed in the river* and mull Uke* 

 when they are unable to fly. When chased by a canoe, and obliged 

 to din frequently, they *oon become fatigued, and make fur the shore 

 with the intention of hiding themselves ; but a* they are not fleet 

 they (all an easy prey to their pursuers. In the autumn they again 

 assemble in flocks on the shores of Hudion'i Bay for three weeki or a 

 month prerioos to their departure southwards. 



" It ha* been obeerred that in their migration* the geese annually 

 resort to orrUin passes and rmting- places, some of which are fre- 

 1 both iu the spring and autumn, and other* only in the spring. 

 The Canada Oooae generally build* it* neat on the ground ; but some 

 pain occasionally breed on the bank* of the Saskatchewan in tree*, 

 depositing their egg* in the deserted neU of raven* or Bulling eagles. 

 IU mil i* imitated by a prolonged nasal pronunciation of the syllable 

 eel- frequently repeated." 



The principal food of thu species consists of Mdge-roota, herbage, 

 and delicate marine plant*, inch a* thorn of the genus L'lra. In the 

 apring they feed on berrie* which have been preserved by the snow 

 through the winter, nioh a* those of the Silvery Buckthorn (Eleagntu 

 aryrmtray M. Audubon fount! them breeding on the coast of Labra- 

 dor; the eggs, six or seven in number, of a greenish-white, are laid in 

 a roughly-made nest Mr. Nuttall says that in the month of Murch, 

 1810, many were nesting in the Shave-Rush (Equitctum hyemak) bot- 

 tom* of the Missouri, no farther up than Fire Prairie, considerably 

 below the junction of the river Platte ; so that the breeding range of 

 .uada Oooae probably extend* through not less than 30 degrees 

 of latitude. Prince Bonaparte notes it as common in winter near 



nrcKS. u 



aliuiiilaut in pairs throughout the Fur Countries up to a high la 1 

 It associates in flocks only on its first arrival. It fet-ds on grass and 

 on all kinds of berries. Early in the spring I have found its crop 

 tilled with the farinaceous astringent fruit of the Slrayutu nrycntta. 

 A. Benida and A. //HTcAuuti breed in considerable numbers on the 

 shores and islands of the Arctic Sea, but keep near the sea-coast in 

 their migrations, and are seldom seen in the interior. They feed on 

 marine plants and on the Mutliuca which adhere to them, as well as 

 on grass and berries. Prince C. L. Bonaparte enumerates A. iujrlum 

 and A. Itucoptit in his list of American Geese ; but they did n. 

 under our notice in the Fur Countries. Hutching and Hearne speak 

 of the Canada Goose under the name of Common Gray Goose, what 

 they term Canada Goose being our A. lluichintii." 



This sort of practical information is not merely interesting in a 

 philosophical point of view. The observations whieh Sir John Richard- 

 son's opportunities enabled him to make become of great practical 

 importance when it is considered that upon the habits and migratory 

 movements of this useful tribe depend the comfort, nay, almost the 

 existence, of multitudes of human beings. We shall therefore follow 

 these birds through Sir John Richardson's ' Table ;' and we would 

 earnestly entreat all zoological travellers to keep such registers when- 

 ever their position will enable them to add such valuable contribu- 

 tions to natural history. The Table from which the following 

 is made embraces the whole of the bird* comprised in the ' Kauna 

 Boreali-Ainericana.' Sir John Richardson remarks that the fourth 

 column is taken from Prince Bonaparte's 'Specchio Comparative,' 

 and that the fifth column is filled up on the authority of that 

 naturalist, Wilson, Audubon, and some others. 



Philadelphia, and as being an object of chase on the sea-shore in the 

 autumn. 



When it is remembered that the Hudson's Bay residents depend 

 greatly on the supply of Canada Geese for their winter provision, and 

 that in favourable years as many as SOOO or 4000 are said to have 

 been killed and barrelled up, it is evident that without this aid num- 

 bers must be in a very forlorn condition. It has been asserted that 

 on a good day a single native from the ambush of his bough hut will 

 kill as many as 200. They are preserved in the frost with the feathers 

 on, and the flesh is juicy and nutritious, though not equal to that of 

 the Snow-Goose. The feathers also are of commercial value. The 

 bird has been long domiciled in Kurope, in France, and in this country 

 particularly, where it breeds freely, and is a great ornament Buflbu 

 states that it bred with the swans at Versailles ; it will breed also 

 with the Common Goose. The produce of the latter intermixture are 

 said to be much more delicious in flavour and quality than the 

 unmixed progeny of the Domestic Goose. 



The following is the description of this bird : Head, two-thirds of 

 the neck, greater quill*, rump, and tail, pitch-black. Back and wings 

 broccoli-brown, edged with wood-brown. Base of the neck before and 

 the under plumage generally brownish-gray. A few feathers about 

 the eye, a Urge kidney-shaped patch on the throat, the sides of the 

 rump, and upper and under tail-coverts, pure white. Bill and feet 



Sir John Richardson observes that individuals differ considerably 

 in dimensions. 



The author last above quoted states, as a summary in the 'Fauna 

 Bormli Americana,' that the ness feed on vegetable substances, 

 pasturing by day, and retiring in the night to repose on the water. 

 This most bs taken as a general proposition, for the Canada Goose is 

 said rarely to sleep upon the water except in very calm weather, their 

 n ting place bains; mostly in the marshes. He says that they swim 

 well, but dire only when moulting and unable to fly. If pursued at 

 such times they leave the wat.-r. and try to hide themselves on shore. 

 They fly high and swiftly in flocks arranged in two lines meeting in 

 an acute angle : they alight on the ground, seldom on the water. 

 Tbe same author observe* that A tutr aUn/rmu and A. hy t *,bornu feed 

 chiefly on berries, and are seldom seen on the wster except in the 

 Bight or when moulting; that they frequent the sandy shores of 

 riven and lakes in flocks, on* of tlisir number generally doing duty 

 M ssntiucl, and that both specie, lined in great numbers in Arctic 

 America awl on the islands of the Polar Sea. A. aUnfrmu he states 

 to be nrs on the coast of Hudson's Bar, and ssy* that it migrates 

 over the interior, and choossa its brssduW-plaees in the vicinity of 

 woody tracts ; while A Ajprrtwwst visits both the interior and the 

 coast in iu migration*, but resort- to the Barren Grounds to breed. 

 "A. CimnfnwV write* Sir John Richardson in conclusion, "is 



With regard to the further geographical distribution of this tribe 

 the reader will find A. Indicia, Barred-Headed Goose, Lath,; A. 

 melanotot, Black-Backed Goose, Lath. ; and A. Coromandeliana, Anna 

 (firra, Gray and II :ird \v. ; Hii-rn /'..//. I. nth., in the catalogue of birds 

 which were collected on the Ganges between Calcutta and Benares, 

 and in the Vindhyian Hills between that place and Gurra Mundela, 

 on the Nerbuddo, by Major James Franklin, F.R.S., 4c. (' Zool. Proc.,' 

 1830-31.) Atutr (iirra (Anai Oirra, Gray), called the Cotton-Teal by 

 the Europeans in the Deccan, on account of the quantity of white in the 

 plumage, appears also in the account of Colonel Sykes's collection of 

 birds from the Deccan. ('Zool. Proc.,' 1832.) Anter inoruattu is 

 recorded among the birds brought home from the Straits of Hagal- 

 haens by Captain Philip Parker King, R.N. ('Zool. Proc., 1 18* 

 Mr. Gould, in his ' Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains,' 

 figures A . Indicia as occurring there. 



The sub-family Anntitur, the True Ducks, have a very wide geo- 

 graphical distribution, sir .loliu Kirlmnlson, in thc> wrk last quoted, 

 states that A not tlyjmita and A. (Dafila) acu'n frequent rhielly the 

 clear lakes of the northern districts, and breed in the I : .n . n ^rounds, 

 being found in numbers in the more southern woinly dintrieU iu spring 

 and autumn only. A. (Bwluu) domtitica, A. (Clautioiliu) itrrpera, 

 nnd Marrca Americana breed in the woody districts up ia then 

 northern limits, in latitude 68. A. (Boichat) rrtcca is abundant to 

 the extremity of the continent l.otli iu the woody and barren districts. 

 A. (Botckat) ditcon, though wry plentiful on the Saskatchewan, was 

 not observed farther north than the 58th parallel ; while Dendroneua 

 ipoiua seldom goes to the northward of the . r i4tli degree of latitude, 

 and is rare even to the southward of that parallel. 



It appears also from Sir John Richard son's' Tables' that Anaiclypcata 

 was observed in 70* N. lat. migratory across the continent ; numerous : 

 that it was observed on the Saskatchewan, in 53 to 54" N. lat., and 

 tV'>i:i (100 to 1000 miles distant from the sea-coast, very common as a 

 bird of passage in spring and nut mini ; th.it it. frequents the vicinity of 

 Philadelphia, rather common in winter (Itonaparte); and that its 

 quarters are in the I'nited Slide* mi. 1 Mexico. A. (Chauliodut) 

 > has been noticed in 08 N. lat east of the Uocky Mountains, 

 migratory ; and on the Saskatchewan (same range of latitude and 

 same distance from the sea-coast) common in summer; rare in the 

 vicinity of Philadelphia in winter (llonniiarte) : its wind -r '{iiarters 

 an the Mexican lakes. (Swainson.) A. (bajila) caudacuta, in lot. 70 

 east of the Rocky Mountains ; migratory ; very common ; and on the 

 Saskatchewan, as above, in spring and autumn, but not rare ; common 

 in the vicinity of Philadelphia in winter iT .impart*;) ; and having its 

 luartcrs in the Mexican lakes. (Swainson.) A. (Hoickai) 

 domtttita, in bit. 68 ; migratory across the continent : common on 

 the Saskatchewan, as above, in the summer ; common in the vicinity 



