NESTING CANADA GEESE IN HONEY LAKE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 5 



and lies at an altitude of approximately 4,000 feet. It is watered by 

 the Susan River, Willow Creek, and numerous lesser tributaries. Honey 

 Lake itself, covering an area of 64,000 acres, occasionally dries up, but 

 it was full or nearly full during the period covered by this report. 



Many species of ducks nest here, the most common being the mal- 

 lard, and pintail, with lesser numbers of gadwall, cinnamon teal, red- 

 head, and shoveller. The blue-winged- teal and widgeon, which nest 

 rarely in California, have also been known to breed here. The common 

 shorebirds are the Wilson snipe, long-billed curlew, western willet, 

 avocet, Wilson phalarope, and the killdeer. 



The study began on March 16, 1939, and continued until July 1st. 

 It was resumed on February 20, 1940, and continued until July 1st of 

 that year. 



Case histories were obtained on 169 nests in 1939 and 249 in 1940. 

 The increase in the number of nests located during the second year of 

 the study was due primarily to an increase in the population of breed- 

 ing birds. 



During 1937, a similar study was made by Williams and Marshall 

 (1937) on the Bear River marshes in Utah. Although the conclusions 

 drawn by the writer are in many cases in entire agreement with those 

 of Williams and Marshall, the differences in the environmental factors 

 of the two areas resulted in definite contrasts. 



The project was under the direction of Joseph S. Hunter, Chief, 

 Bureau of Game Conservation, California Division of Fish and Game, 

 to whom thanks are due for his interest and assistance. Acknowledg- 

 ments are also due to James D. Stokes who assisted in the field work 

 in 1939, to James Moffitt, Gordon H. True, Jr., Howard Twining, and 

 to many others who offered valuable advice and helped in the arrange- 

 ment of this paper. 



Procedure 



An area of 15,560 acres on the north side of Honey Lake was 

 chosen for study (Fig. 2). This area was selected because it includes 

 all of the habitat types characteristic of the valley as a whole and, in 

 addition, because in the future it will offer opportunity for the eventual 

 application of management practices. 



Most of the geese nest within this area which is known by residents 

 as the "Tule District." It contains a few cultivated fields, but for 

 the most part is devoted to grazing and the growing of wild meadow hay. 



Approximately half of the study area was actually used by breed- 

 ing geese. Seven thousand, one hundred and sixty acres were not 

 used as nesting grounds. In the area remaining, the nests were gen- 

 erally found in groups, the location of the groups being correlated with 

 the distribution of favorable nesting sites. Hence, it was possible for 

 one man to inspect the nesting areas with little difficulty. 



To facilitate the mapping of nest locations and the recording of 

 data, the study area was subdivided into small work units varying in 

 size from 160 to 2,000 acres. Nests were located by a systematic search 

 of each work unit. Most of the nest hunting was done on horseback, 

 although in lake and marsh areas it was necessary for the observers 

 to use a small boat or wade. 



