354 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



in his catalogue of the Leyden Museum, 1866. This has induced 

 the editor of the ' Ibis,' who is assured of their being specifically 

 distinct, to enquire to which of these species the specimens killed 

 in Great Britain should be referred. 



THE CANADA GOOSE. 

 ANSER CANADENSIS. 



IN writing of the vernal flight of this species, Wilson, the American 

 ornithologist, says : " It is highly probable that they extend their 

 migration under the very pole itself, amid the silent desolation of 

 unknown countries, shut out since Creation from the prying eye 

 of man by everlasting and insuperable barriers of ice. That such 

 places abound with their suitable food, we cannot for a moment 

 doubt, while the absence of their great destroyer, man, and the 

 splendours of a perpetual day, may render such regions the most 

 suitable for their purpose/' This restlessness of the species 

 becomes apparent in April, and continues till the middle of May, 

 when the great body has passed northwards for the purposes of 

 incubation. There can be no doubt that on their return 

 southwards many birds are driven out of their reckoning, and find 

 their way to the shores of Great Britain. Single birds and small 

 flocks have at various times occurred in the West of Scotland 

 on Loch Lomond repeatedly, on the river Clyde, and in Ayr- 

 shire. A specimen was shot in the estuary of the Clyde on 

 29th March, 1863; another on a loch at Tarbolton on llth March, 

 1865; while on Dongalston Loch, near Glasgow, a flock of six or 

 seven birds was observed in March, 1867, three of which were 

 shot. A few specimens have likewise come under my notice in 

 April, in which month they apparently collect and steer northwards 

 as they do " at home/' Mr J. H. Dunn of Stromness, Orkney, 

 has informed me that on 8th May, 1843, he saw a flock of Canada 

 Geese flying overhead on their way homewards, probably en route 

 for Greenland via the Faroes and Iceland. According to the late 

 Sir John Richardson, this species occasionally breeds in trees on 

 the banks of the Saskatchewan, taking possession of, and depositing 

 its eggs in the deserted nests of ravens or fishing eagles. A 

 raven's nest is no doubt a bulky enough structure, but after having 

 been sat upon by a fat goose during the period of incubation, it 



