NORTHERN OCEAN 405 



size of peas, but more remarkably so in the males. Both the 

 bill and feet are of the same colour with those of the Snow 

 Goose. This species is very scarce at Churchill River, and I 

 believe are never found at any of the Southern settlements ; 

 but about two or three hundred miles to the North West 

 of Churchill, I have seen them in as large flocks as the 

 Common Wavey, or Snow Goose. The flesh of this bird 

 is exceedingly delicate ; but they are so small, that when I 

 was on my journey to the North I eat two of them one night 

 for supper. I do not find this bird described by my worthy 

 friend Mr. Pennant in his Arctic Zoology. Probably a 

 specimen of it was not sent home, for the person that com- 

 manded at Prince of Wales's Fort * at [443] the time the 

 collection was making, did not pay any attention to it. 



Laughing Goose. ^ This elegant species has a white Laughing 

 bill, and the legs and feet are of a fine yellow colour ; the 

 upper part of the plumage is brown, the breast and belly 

 white, the former prettily blotched with black. In size they 

 are equal to the Snow Goose, and their skins, when stripped of 

 their feathers, are delicately white, and the flesh excellent. 

 They visit Churchill River in very small numbers ; but about 

 two hundred miles to the North West of that river I have 

 seen them fly in large flocks, like the Common Waveys, 

 or Snow Geese ; and near Cumberland House and Basquiau 

 they are found in such numbers, that the Indians in moon- 

 Hght nights frequently kill upwards of twenty at a shot. 

 Like the Horned Wavey, they never fly with the lead of 

 the coast, but are always seen to come from the Westward. 

 Their general breeding-places are not known, though some 

 few of their eggs are occasionally found to the North of 

 Churchill ; but I never heard any Indian say that he had seen 

 any eggs of the Horned Wavey : it is probable they retire to 



* Mr. Moses Norton. 



\} Anser albifrons gambeli Hartl. An inhabitant of the west coast of 

 Hudson Bay, but more common in the Mackenzie valley.] 



