EMPEROR GOOSE. 53 



short necks, and quick wing-strokes, resembling those 

 of the Black Brant. Although not so rapid on the wing 

 as that species, nor in fact, as are other Geese, they are 

 nevertheless swift flyers. When on their way between 

 feeding grounds they utter a hoarse, deep, strident Cla- 

 hd, cla-ha, cla-ha, very different from the note of any other 

 Goose. Soon after their arrival mating begins, and in 

 couples they fly about keeping close to the ground, rarely 

 rising thirty yards above it. The males are jealous and 

 pugnacious, making a vigorous onslaught upon any one 

 of their kind or any other species of Goose, should they 

 draw near. When a mated pair are feeding, the male is 

 restless and watchful, and if alarmed the birds draw near 

 each other, and before taking wing, both utter a deep 

 ringing U-liigh, ii-lugh. There is a peculiar deep hoarse- 

 ness about this note impossible to describe. By June 

 the females begin to lay on the flat marshy islands near 

 the sea, and at low tide the broad mud flats on the shore 

 are thronged with them, rnd after feeding, they congre- 

 gate on the bars until forced to leave by the incoming 

 tide. Most of the nests were placed on the marshes, and 

 sometimes the eggs were deposited amid driftwood below 

 high-water mark. It is not always easy to distinguish 

 this Goose when on the nest, even when there is 

 not much cover, as the bird extends her head and neck 

 flat upon the ground, remaining perfectly motionless, and 

 does not leave the nest until the object of her alarm has 

 passed, when she usually moves off with a startled cry. 

 The eggs are placed in a depression in the ground, and 

 in number they range from five to eight, and when fresh 

 are pure white or nearly so, but become a dirty brownish 

 white after remaining in the nest a brief period. As the 

 number of eggs increase, the female forms a bed of fine 

 grass, leaves, and feathers, the latter plucked from her 



