The Emperor Goose 131 



by those already on the ground. The river channels and the sea were still 

 covered with ice, and the tundra halt covered with snow, at the time of the 

 first arrivals. 



At first, the Emperor Geese were difficult to approach, but as their numbers 

 increased they became less shy. When on the wing, they were easily distin- 

 guished from the other Geese, even at considerable distances, by their pro- 

 portionately shorter necks and heavier bodies, as well as by their short, rapid 

 wing-strokes, resembling those of the Black Brant. Like the latter, they usually 

 flew near the ground, rarely more than thirty yards high, and commonly 

 so close to the ground that their wing-tips almost touched the surface on the 

 down stroke. While flying from place to place, they give at short intervals 

 a harsh, strident call of two syllables, like kla-ha, kla-ha, kla-ha, entirely differ- 

 ent from the note of any other Goose I have ever heard. A group of them on a 

 sand-bar or mud-flat often utter lower, more cackling notes in a conversational 

 tone, which may be raised to welcome new arrivals. They are much less noisy 

 than either the White-fronted or Cackling Geese, which often make the tundra 

 resound with their excited cries. Occasionally I could cause a passing flock 

 to leave its course and swing in close to my place of concealment by imitating 

 their flight notes. 



Almost at once after their arrival on the islands, the Emperor Geese ap- 

 peared to be mated, the males walking around the females, swinging their 

 heads and uttering low love notes, and incoming flocks quickly disintegrated 

 into pairs which moved about together, though often congregating with 

 many others on flats and sand-bars. The male was extremely jealous and pug- 

 nacious, however, and immediately resented the slightest approach of another 

 toward his choice; and this spirit was shown equally when an individual 

 of another species chanced to come near. When a pair was feeding, the male 

 moved restlessly about, constantly on the alert, and at the first alarm the pair 

 drew near one another, and just before taking wing uttered a deep, ringing 

 u-lugh, u-lugh; these, like the flight notes, having a peculiar deep tone impos- 

 sible to describe. 



At low tide, as soon as the shore ice disappeared, the broad mud-flats 

 along shore were thronged with them in pairs and groups numbering up to 

 thirty or forty individuals. They were industriously dabbling in the mud for 

 food until satisfied, and then congregated on bars, where they sat dozing in 

 the sun or lazily arranging their feathers. By lying flat on the ground and 

 creeping cautiously forward, I repeatedly approached within thirty or fort}' 

 yards of parties near shore without their showing any uneasiness. 



The first of June, they began depositing eggs on the flat marshy islands 

 bordering the sea all along the middle and southern part of the delta. The 

 nests were most numerous in the marshes, a short distance back from the muddy 

 feeding-grounds, but stray pairs were found nesting here and there farther inland 

 on the same tundra with the other species of Geese and numerous other water- 



