348 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



very fine specimen in adult plumage, now in his collection, was 

 shot in a meadow at the mouth of the Tyne in East Lothian, on 

 llth February, 1867. 



Sir John Richardson, in the Fauna Boreali Americana, remarks, 

 with regard to this species, that it is not uncommon on the coast of 

 Hudson's Bay. The Indians imitate its call by patting the mouth 

 with their hand while they repeat the syllable wall. The same 

 writer, on the authority of Mr Murray, has the following notes on 

 its breeding habits in his ' Journal of a Boat Voyage/ etc., 

 published in 1851, which I have not yet seen quoted in any 

 ornithological work: "With respect to the breeding quarters of 

 the laughing geese (A user albifrons) I am able to inform you 

 correctly, having myself seen a few of their nests ; and, since the 

 receipt of your letter, made further inquiry among the northern 

 Indians. Their nests are built on the edges of swamps and lakes 

 throughout most of the country north of the Porcupine where the 

 ground is marshy. It is only near the most northerly bends of 

 the river that they are seen in the breeding season, and these are 

 male birds. They pass to their breeding places in the beginning 

 of June, and make their nests among long grass or small bushes, 

 where they are not easily seen. They are shy birds when 

 hatching; and, when any one comes near the nest, manage to 

 escape unperceived, and then show themselves at a distance, and 

 manoeuvre like grouse to lead the intruder away from the place. 

 Notwithstanding our ruthless habit of collecting eggs of all kinds 

 to vary our diet, I have often felt for a laughing goose, whose 

 anxiety for the safety of its eggs was frequently the means of 

 revealing to us the situation of its nest. When the bird was 

 swimming some hundred of yards off, immediately that any 

 person in walking round the lake came near its treasure, the poor 

 bird began to make short impatient turns in the water, resuming 

 her calm demeanour if the intruder passed the nest without seeing 

 it. As soon as the eggs are taken, the goose rises out of the 

 water and flies close to the head of the captor, uttering a frightened 

 and pitiful cry. These geese are more numerous in the Valley of 

 the Yukon than any other kind; and the numbers that pass 

 northwards there are perhaps equal to that of all the other species 

 together."* 



Audubon speaks of the flight of this species as very similar to 



* ' Arctic Searching Expedition,' etc., vol. ii., page 110. 



