MIGRATIONS OF WILD GEESE. 287 



same process is going on across the whole breadth of 

 the great North American continent; for on the great 

 lakes on the Upper Mississippi, and throughout the Hud- 

 son Bay territories, the month of May and early part of 

 June is annually marked by the simultaneous flight 

 towards the northward of numerous flocks of wild geese. * 

 These birds mostly consist of the varieties known as the 

 Brent goose (BerniclaBrenta), the Bernicle (BerniclaLeu- 

 copsis], the large Canadian goose (Bernicla Canadensis], 

 the snow goose (Anser Hyperboreus), and the White- 

 fronted or Laughing Goose (Anser Albifrons). When 

 in the Hudson Bay Territory some thirty years ago, we 

 were informed by the Company's officers that both in 

 autumn and spring the migratory flights of these 

 birds often continued without interruption for days 

 together. They generally fly by easy stages, settling 

 down for rest, either upon the ground, or upon open 

 water, where vast flocks, many thousands in number, 

 may sometimes be seen herded together; the extra- 

 ordinary noise they make on these occasions is some- 

 times almost deafening; at other times it resembles 

 the sound of an immense pack of hounds in full cry. 

 Should anything disturb them, the sound of their 

 myriad wings, as the whole flock suddenly takes to 

 flight, exactly resembles a roll of muffled thunder; 

 while a vast volume of discordant cries fills the whole 

 air, and is often audible for miles away, as the great 

 assemblage sails away upon its distant journey. The 

 different kinds of geese generally keep together as 

 much as possible, and their flights therefore vary a 



* See with reference to the Great Migrations near the great Slave 

 Lake, The Barren Grounds of Northern Canada, by Warburton Pike, 

 1892, p. 161. 



