Ill 



I 



464 



LAMELLIUOSTUAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



liiu'd with down, which had appiU'cntly lu'cn phicki'd by the foiiinh* from ht'v own 

 body. In otlicr instances nests were found by hiui in similar positions. Wlien built 

 on tlui f^round the nests ai»])ear to liave been vai'iously couiiKJsed — in one instance of 

 decayed leaves, down, and hay; in ai.jther of dry willow sticks and uu)ss, liueil witli 

 feathers and down. Kjj;^'s found atiev the middle of .Tune contained embryos, which 

 were more or less develojicd. In one instance a lu'st was composed of a quantity of 

 turf and decayed ve^'ctable matter lined with down, feathers, and nu)ss. 



Mr. Dall found this bird not luicommon at Fort Yukon, where its eggs wero also 

 obtained, and it was also taken at Sitka by Bischoff. 



It was f(mnd breeding by ]Mr. Kennicott on Lake "Winnipeg in June, at Fort Ivcso- 

 lution as early as April r>, and at Fort Yukon, May tlU; by Mr. L. Clarke at Fort ]{ae 

 in May, at Fort Sini]ison l>y ^^^l'. li. 11. Koss, on the Anderson Hiver by Mr. jNFacFar- 

 lane, auumg the mountains west of the Lower jMackenzie by Mr. 1\. M"J)onald, at 

 I'ort Klder by Mr. :Minot. and at Sitka by F.ischoff. 



])r. I'lcrlandier, in his manuscrijjt notes, speaks of it as inhabiting during the win- 

 ter the great plains of Tamaulipas, Mexico. He has seen it in Hocks of several 

 hundreds in the grassy marshes between San Fernando and Matamoras, in the vicinity 

 of Soto Le Naninc, etc. It is commonly called /'(ifufn't/uero. He also met with it in 

 December on the central plateau between the. Hacienda of Enoarnacion and Aguas 

 Nuevas, near Saltillo. 



Its eggs are of a uniform bright ivory white, of an oval shape; but vary both in 

 size and shajH'. Specimens in the Smithsonian Collection, exhibit tlu^ following 

 nu'asureuKUjts : (Xo. 1)400, Anderson liiver, MacFarlaue) ,".2o by L'.lo, ami IJ.IO by 

 2.2o inches; (Xo. 19<Jt) lUry by LM<». and .'1.10 by 2.30 inches; (Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, Xo. 04;!4A) Fort Yukon, .'!.4u by 2.](>. 



The fcn-m called J>fnn'r/(i. orrif/riifn/!.^ is apjiarently the I'aeilio coast ri>presentative 

 of the common Canada (Joose. Examples of it wen; taken at Sitka by Mr. Hischoff, 

 but no nu'ution was made of any specitic variations in habit. Since then it is saiil to 

 have been i'ound in great abundance b}' Mr. (irayson in Western JNIexico, Avhere, as 

 he states, he saw it in large flocks while on the road to Durango, between the Sierra 

 M'adre ^Mountains and that city. This was in the nu)ntlis of February and IMarch. 

 He did not, however, see or hear of any west of the Cordilleras. 



Jieriilda JLutfh insi. 



Although the Hutchins's Goose was first distinctively named by Dr. Eichardson 

 in the "Fauna 15oreali-Anu'ricana," its existence as a well-marked race or species, 

 distinct from the ('(i)i(((Icns!.i, was well kiunvn to Mr. Hearni" nearly a century ago. 

 Under the nanu! of the Canada Goose, he refers to it as (piite distinct from our caim- 

 (ft'iisi.i, which he calls the eomniou Gray Goose. At the time he wrote it was well 

 known to the Indians, as Avell as to the English, in Hiulson's ]?ay as the I'l'sh-a- 

 fisL While it does uot differ in plumage from the common "Wild Goose, it is much 

 inferior in size, the bill is much smaller in proportion to the size of the body, and the 

 flesh, which is much whiter, is more highly esteemed as food. It is by no nutans so 

 abundant at Hiulson's Kay as the common species ; and as a general thing it goes 

 much farther north to breed. A few pairs were, however, known to have bred near 

 Churchill lliver. It Avas seldom that either this or the true Canada Goose was 

 known to lay more than four eggs, all of which, if the nests were not robbed, the 

 birds usually succeeded in hatching. 



This Goose breeds on the shores of the Arctic Sea; but in its migrations keeps 

 near the sea-coast, and is seldom seen in the interior. 



