ANSKIUN.K — THK (JKESK ANSKK. 



453 



Ai'curdiiiK tu Mr. (i. liunistoii, the l^aiiK'liin^' (toosr is scliloiu simmi in th«' Huuthfin 

 portion of lluiUon's Hiiy. At Fort Wnk it is less rare, and at Fort Cluinhill (iiiit« 

 ainuulunt. lit- rt'gurds it uh h-iug mi inlial)itant ol Cmtraland Wi-HtiTii Anii'ricii 

 in till- winter months, rather than of the * astern side. Tlieret'ore in its |iro^'ress 

 nortiiward it strikes npon the roast westward ol' iJanies Hay, where it is seliKini seen. 

 On the Lower (.'ohindna and in Ore^'on, or in tin* Wilhunette VaUey, it alMinnds with 

 otlier wihl towl, when, as frequently happen.s, the winter is niihl and there is no 

 snow on the i;round. It is ini liuh-d by llolholl anion^ tlie birds of (ireenhmd. 



Mr. Au(hd>on states that ibirin^' his resiih'iiee in Kentucky not a winter [las.sed 

 witliont his notiein^ a hir^e nundter of tlies«' birds, und says tliat thuy uru frt>- 

 ([uently olfered for .sah' at that .season in the market of New Orleans. From tlio 

 imndM-rs seen hij,di on the Arkansas IJiver. he presumed that many winter beyond 

 the southern limits of the Initeil States. In Kentuiky Itirils of this speeies >,'>'ner- 

 ally arrive before the Canada (loo.se, betaking,' themselves to the (,'rassy jioiids; and 

 of the dilTerent (Jeese which visit that country, these are by far the least shy. The 

 liocks selilom exceed from thirty to lil>y imiividuals. The flight of this l)inl is linn 

 and well-sustained, and re.senddes that td" Hirnlihi ruHitdvims. In its nu),'ratit)ns it 

 pa.s.ses at a considerable height, arraiigL-d in a Hock of an angular shape, an old CSander 

 leading. ( )n the ground it walks with ea.se, and when wounded runs with considerable 

 speed. While in Kentui-ky it feeds on iM'echnuts and acorn.s, and gleans in the eorn- 

 tields for grains of mai/e. It also nibbles young grain and blades of grass. In its 

 stomueh the broken shells <d' snails are al.so found. It leaves Kentucky a fortnight 

 sooner tlum the Canada (loose, starting at tlu> .same time with the Snow (ioose ; but 

 the two speeies do not nungle with each other. 



Mr. Dall mentions linding the White-fronted (loose extreim'ly eonimon in Alaska. 

 It arrives at Nidato about May (>th to lOth, and breeds all along the river gregar- 

 iously, laying from six to ten eggs in a depression in the sand, without any kind of 

 nest or liidng. lie found its eggs all along the rivi-r, from Fort Yukon to the sea. 

 and thence to St. .Michael's. The Indian name of the bird is Tut»itn<ilt. Air. Itannis- 

 ter speaks of it as one «d the first of the (Jeese to arrive in the spring, when it .soon 

 beeiuni's aliumlant. He found it nesting on Stuart's Island, ami probably also on 

 St. Michatd's. 



Mr. MacFarlane found this speeies breeding abuiulantly on the Lower Andei.ion 

 Itiver, on the Arctic coast, and among the islands in the Arctic Sea. He has fur- 

 idshed notes as to their nesting, and fnun these it ,'ippears that the maximum luindier 

 of eggs is seven, and that in nearly every instance observed iiy him the eggs wt re 

 not de|iosit<'d in a nu-re depression without lining. Imt that there was a plentiful 

 supply of hay, down, and feathers, although in some instances this liidng was moro 

 scanty than in others. The eggs were found in June and duly. Those obtained ati 

 late as June L'O usually contained large endtryos, but in a few instances they wen; 

 found to be fresh as hit»* as .luly (>. When the nest was approached the pan-iit bird 

 would exhibit signs of fear, (lying off without noi.se at a low elevation. Mr. Mac- 

 Farlane found this bird breeding aliout the Lower Anilerson IJiver, in the vicinity of 

 fresh-water lakes. The nests weie generally in N.ooded districts, and were u mere 

 dei)ression in the ground, but W(dl lined with feathers and down. 



The White-fronti'd Cihisc was also taken in the neighborhood of Fort Uosolution 

 by Mr. Ki-nnicott. May L'l and L'(l. ISOO. 



Dr. Ilerlandier's manuscript notes seem to show that this (roose, in the winter, 

 inhabits only the wooded marshes formed by the overflowing of the liio Uravo dtd 

 Xo'te, in the vicinity id' Matamoras. 



