THE AUK: 



A Q^UARTERLY JOURNAL OF 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



VOL. I. October, 1884. No. 4. 



THE CANADA GOOSE {BERNICLA CANADENSIS.) 



BY JAMES P. HOWLEY. 



One of the chief game birds of Newfoundland is the Canadian 

 Goose (yBernicIa canadensis). Wlien I term it a game bird 

 I might state tliat owing to the peculiarit}' of its habits, or 

 perhaps to the physical character of this country, few Wild 

 Geese fiill to the gun of our sportsmen proper, who confine 

 themselves chiefly to Grouse hunting, and the shooting of 

 smaller game. The labor and difficulty of access to the true 

 bi'eeding grounds of the Wild Goose, in the far interior, eflect- 

 ually protects it, and it is only during the spring and fall migra- 

 tions that any appreciable number are killed. 



This Goose is a regular annual visitant to Newfoundland, 

 coming along from the southward in the early spring, arriving 

 here in the month of April, remaining during the breeding sea- 

 son, and again taking its departure about the latter half of 

 October. They breed abundantly on this island, depositing their 

 eggs in very simply constructed nests, of dried leaves and grass, 

 on the islets in the bog holes or tarns, which so plentifully dot the 

 large peat savannas prevailing over considerable areas of the 

 interior. They generally' select localities for the purpose of incu- 

 bation not far removed from the margin of some of the numerous 



