AN.SEUIN'.E — THE GKESE — CJIKN. 



441 



tlu' Hliore. It iirrivi's from the north in Uctolier, and rcniainH until March, wIhmi it 

 joins its kindred of otlivr HpeoteH, and together thoy depart for more nortliern regions. 

 While in California this bird feeds cliieHy on ^rass, and is very shy and watehful. It 

 is generally silent. Imt at times, ehietly wln-n Hying, utters a shrill htnrk. It is hunted 

 and shut, and many are brought to market, iH'iug eonsiilered, when young, better thuu 

 the eonnaon Wild Goose. 



This l)ird oeeurs in the interior of tlu' continent on all the hirge lakes, as well as 

 on the smaller coUcctions of water. iMr. .). A. Allen met with it in Salt Lake N'alley, 

 where it lM>gins to arrive in considerable nund)ers about October 1st, lieing known 

 there as the White IJrant. JMr. Hidgway also found it a more or less common winter 

 resident or visitant on all the larger lakes of the Great Hasin. (.'aptaiu Hendire 

 mentions it as common during the migrations in Kastern Oregon. It is of accidental 

 occurrence in the Herniudas, two examples, according to Major Wedderburn, having 

 been shot at Kiddle's Hay in (Jctober, 184S. 



Hearne, in his Account of his .louruey to the Northern Ocean, speaks of the 

 White or Snow Goose as being the most inimerous of all the species of birds fre- 

 cpienting the northern i)art of Hudson's Hay, and says that it makes its appearance 

 about a week or ten lUiys after the common Wild Goose. In the tirst jtart of the 

 sca.son it arrives in small parties; but in the niiddb' and toward the latter end ecuues 

 in such anuizing numbers, that when they settle in the marshes, the ground for a con- 

 siih-rable distance ai)pears like u fichl of snow. When feeding in the same nuirsh 

 with A. f(iiiii</rn.sis, the two species never mingle. Like the latter, it will tly to a call 

 resembling its own note ; anil in sonui years it has been killed and salted in great 

 munbers for winter consumption, it being alnu)st universally regarded as good eating. 

 If proper can' be taken in the curing it will continue good for two years. The 

 Indians at Ilud.son's ilay are said to be far more expert than the Europeans in killing 

 this bird, some of them having been known to obtain upward of a huiulred in a single 

 day, a single Indian commonly killing from a thousand to twelve hinulred in a 

 season ; but at the timo llearne wrote Im was reckoned a good hunter who could kill 

 three hundred, as these Geese did not then frequent that region in as great numbers 

 as they formerly did. 



Hearne adds that the general breeiling-jilace of this species was not known to the 

 Indians of Hudson's Hay, nor to the Kskimos that fre(pient the extreme north. The 

 general route they take in their return to the south in the I'all of the year was 

 ccpially unknown. 



About Hudson's Bay this bird is said to be the shyest and most watchful of all the 

 species of Geese, never suffering an open approach, not even to within two or three 

 gunshots. Yet on some of the rivers near ('umberlaml House, and at Has(]uian, the 

 Indians would occasionally kill twenty at a shot. This was done on moonlight nights, 

 when the Geese were sitting in the mud, ami the sportsmen were concealed from 

 view. 



According to the observations of Dr. Kichardson, the Snow Goose in summer feeds 

 chiefly on berries, and is seldom seen on the water except during the night or when 

 moulting. It frequents the shores of rivers and lakes, and visits both the interior 

 and the coasts in its migrations, but resorts in great numbers to thi' Barren Grounds 

 to breed. The eggs are of a yellowish white color, and of a regular ovate form, their 

 length being three inches, and their breadth two. The young fly in the middle of 

 August, and by the end of September have all departed south. Their food in the 

 summer consists of rushes and insects, and in the autumn of berries, particularly 

 those of the Empetmm nifjrum. When in good condition — as Bichardsuu says — 



vou I. — fiO 



