ANSERINvE — THE GEESE — BERNICLA. 



473 



I inch outside 

 ruinp, piiiuu- 

 \(l uppur tiiil- 

 iks with vevy 



L't ik'C]) Ijlack ; 



; luiddle tou, 

 Similar to the 

 -coverts and 

 ire wliite, and 



irni brownisih 



■thern Europe 



diiter Coll.) is 



-pecies and B. 



t has the uni- 



istic of tlie B. 



,'hter, present- 



li' the hlnck of 



ish cast — the 



contrast with 



the neck is in 



1 hcniicla. It 



■hes ; culnien, 



illiod to the 

 ct^s its place 

 a latter docs 

 it. Mr. Heii- 



shaw informed me that lie lias seen a single sjioeimen of it in the Boston market • 

 and there is, Mv. Lawrence informs me, a tine specimen in the museum of the Long 

 Island Historical Society which was obtained on that island. It is rare in the 

 interior, Imt Captain licndire mentions its oci-asional occurrence in Eastern Oregon. 



;Mr. 11. Urowne includes it in his list of the birds of Vancouver Island. He men- 

 tions having seen one of these Geese, apparently cpiite tame, stalking about tlie 

 Unchaltaw Indian village in Discovery Passage, in March, WMl It is known as the 

 Nulla by the Quakwolths, who also liiid a tame one in the village at Fort Ifupert. 



According to Dr. Cooper, this species appears to resort, in winter, only to salt- 

 Avater bays. Dr. Suckley found it exceedinglj abundant near the Straits of Fuca at 

 that season, and occurring more sparingly about the moutlis of other bars as far 

 south as San Diego, where, in the wijit(!r of 1S()1-1801', Dr. Cooper saw these birds 

 in large numbers. They appeared in October, and remained until April 20, the spring 

 being much more backward, and their departure taking place probably as much as 

 two weeks later than usual. He saw no other sjiecies in eoini)any with tlicm during 

 the whole winter, though others were common on the ])rairies at some distance inland. 

 They appeared to feed almost entirely on the leaves and roots of the marine grass 

 (xostera) which abounds in that bay. Dr. Coojjer supposes that they also feed on 

 small fish and shells, as they acfpiire a somewhat fishy, though not a disagrecalile, 

 flavor. They were exceedingly wild, and flew so high that he only succeeded in pro- 

 curing a single specimen. Tlieir note is said to be a croaking cry, much less strong 

 than that of the other species. Dr. Coojier never saw any in the San Francisco 

 market, but he ni(;t with them about and outside of the Bay, in LSG,'5, as late as 

 the 24th of April ; and he has every reason to believe that large numbers frecpient 

 the fields of kelp which line the coast and extend out some miles from tlie shore. 



Mr. Kennicott, in a note dated Fort Yukon, May 1!), refers to procuring three 

 specimens of this bird, known in that region as the "Eskimo Goose." He states 

 that it arrives there the latest of all the birds, and after nearly all the other (ieese 

 have passed. It flies in large flocks, and very rapidly. The three specimens were 

 the first noticed that season, and the only ones killed, although two dozen or more 

 flocks of from twenty-five to fifty were seen in all ; but in no comparison, in point of 

 numbers, with the other four species. This bird is said to pass La Pierre House in 

 immense numbers both in spring and fall. 



Mr. Dall states that this Goose arrives in immense flocks in the spring along the 

 sea-coast, and he shot one at Nulato, May 21), 1808 ; Imt it was regarded as being 

 a very rare visitor on tlie Yukim. It passes Fort Yukon in the spring, as it does 

 St. Michael's, being present only a few days, and breeding only on the shores of the 

 Arctic Sea. Mr. Dall was informed that this species is not found at Fort ^'ukoii in 

 the fall. He killed one at Unalaktak, Sept. 28, 1867, on the edgi> of the ice in a 

 small stream ; and mentions that he uniformly found this Goose lean, tough, and of 

 a disagreeable flavor. It is also very shy. The few that appear in Norton Sound in 

 the fall are the last of the Geese, except the "Emperor Goose'' (I'/iilnrfe mnagica). 



Mr. Bannister mentions that he was told that this bird was far less abundant 

 than usual at St. Michael's the season he was there, when only a few were killed. 

 It arrived there the 12th of :\ray, almost the last of all the nugratory birds ; and 

 was observed Sept. 2;$, 1865, on its return. It is said to come usually in immense 

 flocks, and to afford more profitable sport for a few days than all the other species 

 put together. The flight of the main body of these migratory birds is along the 

 western edge of St. Micdiael's Island, touching Stewart's Island, and then proceeding 

 directly northward, across the open sea toward Goloviu Sound. 



VOL. 1. — 60 



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