46 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



through the British Provinces from Newfoundland to British 

 Columbia and northward to the Mackenzie River basin and the 

 interior of Alaska. In winter to California and from Long Island, 

 Ohio Valley and lower Missouri Valley southward through the 

 south Atlantic and Gulf States. As the settlers of the country 

 moved west and northward the breeding grounds of the goose 

 were encroached upon. Its southern limits at present extend 

 through the northern tier of states, but the bird will soon be 

 driven from there as well as from the southern provinces of Can- 

 ada. 



In Missouri the Wild Goose is a commonjtransient visitant 

 and a not very rare winter resident, being present in larger or 

 smaller numbers from early in October to the latter part of 

 April, leaving the state entirely only for a short time during 

 the severest winter weather when the ground is covered with 

 snow and the rivers are frozen. When the first white men 

 flocked into the state, they found the geese nesting all along 

 the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. In his " Reise durch Nord 

 America" Prinz zu Wied tells us that he found on April 25, 

 1833, a nest in a tree at the mouth of Nodaway River, and 

 that the next day he met with a group of goslings guarded by 

 their parents. 



During the last decade of the past century the Peninsula 

 of Missouri still harbored a small number of breeding pairs, 

 usually nesting on cypress stumps in the overflow, 6 or 8 feet 

 above the water. The natives hunted their eggs and young, and 

 bevies of semi-domesticated Wild Geese were a common sight in 

 Pemiscot and Dunkhn Counties. Pairs thus reared were allowed 

 to make their own nests in the fields of the farmer and incubated 

 their eggs themselves, the gander keeping guard and boldly 

 attacking all intruders. As there has been a great influx of 

 settlers into that country during the last few years, it is probable 

 that the days of the Wild Goose breeding in Missouri are past, 

 but some may still at least try to remain. Non-breeders are 

 sometimes seen in northern Missouri long after the transients are 

 all gone (May 3, 1887, St. Louis; May 18, 1902, New Haven; 

 June 7, 1886, Mt. Carmel). 



172a. BiiANTA CANADENSIS HUTCHiNsii (Rich.). Hutchin's 

 Goose. 



Anser hutchinsii. Bernida hutchinsii. Little Wild Goose. Lesser Canada 

 Goose. 



Geog. Dist. — Western North America; in the north-east to 



