LESSER CANADA GOOSE 



95 



flesh, however, is not consid- 

 ered to be quite the equal of 

 that of the Common Canada 

 Goose, and of course it is not 

 such a large bird and there- 

 fore not as desirable. 



Its breeding grounds lie 

 along the extreme northern 

 Arctic coasts and, as if know- 

 ing that in these regions the 

 ice is late in breaking up on 

 the shores and in the bays of 

 its summer home, it is a com- 

 paratively late migrant in the 

 spring. Its nest is built on 

 the ground in a hollow in the 

 tundra, lined with moss, grass, 

 leaves, rubbish, and with 

 down from the mother's 

 breast. The usual clutch is 

 from 4 to 6 eggs, and the av- 

 erage size of an egg is 3.12 

 by 2.09 inches. The eggs are 

 similar to those of the Com- 

 mon Canada Goose. 

 In the interior valley of California where these geese winter in 

 incredible numbers in association with the White-fronts, Lesser Snows, 

 Ross's and Cackling Geese, they feed mostly in the grain fields and 

 grassy plains. Formerly, when they were much more abundant, they 

 did considerable harm to the sprouting grain and it was customary for 

 farmers to hire men and furnish them with guns and ammunition, to 

 drive them off. 



The habits and behaviour cf this oose are identical with those ^f 

 the Common Canada Goose, and have been dealt with at length in the 

 "Life Story" of that variety. 



Richardson's Goose 



(Hutchins's Goose. A. O. U., 1931) 



Branta canadensis Hutchinsi 

 (bran-ta, kan-a-den-sis, hiich-in-si) 



Colour Plate Xo. 2. Downy Young No. 32. 

 (A subspecies of the Canada Goose) 



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Branta, a corruption of Greek brenthos, being the Aristotelian name of an 

 unknown bird, canadensis, Latinized form, meaning of Canada, hutchinsi, after 



