80 



THB OOLOOIST 



172c Cackling Goose, Branta canaden- 

 sis minima. 



This miniature Canada goose is 

 shown in the foregoing plate. It is 

 supposed to always or nearly always, 

 wear a white collar in winter accord- 

 ing to the books. However, such is 

 not the case so far as our observation 

 with the birds shown above is con- 

 cerned. Two of our birds have a well 

 defined collar and two have not. 



It is the smallest of the sub-species 

 of Canada Geese. The smaller exam- 

 ples at times being but little larger 

 than an ordinary Mallard duck. 



The home of this sub-species is 

 along the Western coasts of North 



America, breeding abundantly in the 

 Aleutian Islands and winters as far 

 South as San Diego, Calif. Occasion- 

 ally it comes East of the Rocky moun- 

 tains, but .not often. It is the last of 

 the geese to reach the far North. But 

 few sets of eggs of this species thor- 

 oughly identified can be found in 

 North American collections. 



It has a peculiar note, from which it 

 gets its name, — a harsh continued 

 high-pitched cackle which can be 

 heard a very long distance, and is 

 more irritating than pleasant, and ap- 

 parently bears no resemblance what- 

 ever to the inspiring "Honk, honk" 

 of its larger relative, the Canada 

 Goose. 



