NESTING CANADA GEESE IN HONEY LAKE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 7 



ceased with the following exception. On March 27, 1939, a nest con- 

 taining six eggs was found on top of a haystack. On April 20th, the 

 Tn^uhatmg bird was disturbed by photographers and left the nest for 

 approximately two hours during the heat of the day. The goose 

 continued to incubate until June 22d, when the writer took the eggs 

 for examination. They all contained well-developed embryos which 

 were dead, probably as a result of their prolonged exposure to the 

 sun on April 20th. To the writer's knowledge the goose had incubated 

 for 87 days. 



MARCH 

 1-15 



MARCH 

 15-31 



APR IL 

 1-15 



APRIL 

 15-30 



MAY 

 I- 15 



Fig. 4. Occurrence of nests during the 1939 and 1940 seasons by 



bi-weekly periods. 



In 1940, the first nest was discovered on March 6th. As in 1939, 

 k^\\\\ If? th_ marked the, approximate -peak.. of the nesting season. The 

 nests were visited for the last time on May 10th. by which date all of 

 the broods had left the nests. 



In 1939, 140 nests were located containing 713 eggs, or an average 

 ^ nf fi pp. Pggs jiprjTP^ i n addition, 29 nests were discovered after they 

 hax^ been destroyed or after the broods had hatched. In 1940, 215 

 nests were found containing 1.099 eggs, or 5.10 eggs per nest, and, in 

 addition, 29 nests were discovered after they had been destroyed or 

 after the broods had hatched. The average clutch size for 127 success- 



