54 WATER FOWL. 



own breast. When disturbed the female usually flies 

 straight away, sometimes for half a mile before alighting, 

 and betrays little concern for her treasures. The male is 

 rarely seen in the vicinity of the nest. By the last of 

 June or beginning of July the young are hatched, and 

 from the last of July to the middle of August the adults 

 moult. At this season tens of thousands of Geese of all 

 kinds are killed by the Eskimo, who set long nets across 

 the marshes and drive the moulting birds into them. This 

 slaughter is bad enough, but is rendered still more repre- 

 hensible from the fact that the savages kill thousands of 

 young birds that are at such times entrapped, to prevent 

 them, as they say, from being in the way for the next 

 drive. Is it to be wondered that the Wild Fowl in North 

 America are rapidly marching, in so many cases, toward 

 extinction, when such practices are indulged in, even on 

 their very breeding grounds? The eggs of the Emperor 

 Goose are eagerly sought for both by the natives and 

 whites, and take the place of meat on the daily bill of fare. 

 When again able to fly, these Geese gather along the sea- 

 coast, and remain there until winter drives them to the 

 Aleutian Islands a few hundred miles south. The 

 natives south of the Yukon make dresses from the skins 

 of this bird, as they do also of those of other species of 

 Geese. 



The Emperor Goose is difficult to kill, and it requires 

 a heavy charge of shot to bring it down. It is hardly fit 

 for food, the flesh being coarse, rank, and with a de- 

 cidedly unpleasant odor, says Turner; but Dall states 

 that though the flesh has an intolerable odor of garlic, 

 which makes the process of skinning a very disagreeable 

 task, yet this passes away when the bird is cooked, and 

 he found it tender and good. This species visits the 

 Prybilof Islands, but only as a straggler. In the 



