ORNITHOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY. 



THE CANADA GOOSE. 



Anser canadensis, Vieijll. 



PLATE CCI. Male aUd Female. 



Although the Canada Goose is considered as a northern species, the 

 fiumber of individuals that remain at all seasons in the milder latitudesj 

 and in different portions of the United States, fully entitles this bird to 

 be looked upon as a permanent resident there. It is found to breed spa- 

 ringly at the present day, by many of the lakes, lagoons, and large 

 streams of our Western Districts, on the Missouri, the Mississippi, the 

 lower parts of the Ohio, on Lake Erie, the lakes farther north, and in se- 

 veral large pools situated in the interior of the eastern parts of the States 

 of Massachusetts and Maine. As you advance farther toward the east 

 and north, you find it breeding more abundantly. While on my way to 

 Labrador, I found it in the Magdeleine Islands, early in June, sitting on 

 its eggs. In the Island of Anticosti there is a considerable stream, near 

 the borders of which great numbers are said to be annually reared ; and 

 in Labrador these birds breed in every suitable marshy plain. The 

 greater number of those which visit us from still more northern regions, 

 return in the vernal season, like many other species, to the dismal coun- 

 tries which gave them birth. 



Few if any of these birds spend the winter in Nova Scotia, my friend 

 Mr Thomas M'Culloch having informed me that he never saw one about 

 Pictou at that period. In spring, as they proceed northward, thousands 

 are now and then seen passing high in the air; but in autumn, the flocks 

 are considerably smaller, and fly much lower. During their spring move- 

 ments, the principal places at which they stop to wait for milder days are 



