684 Repoet oe State Geologist. 



whitiaii; jprimaries and. coverts fidgBd and rbipped with white; bill pink, 

 pale lake or carmine; mails, white; feet, yelilDW,; daws, wihite. 



Length, 27.00-30.00; <mmg, 14.!KS-17,50; :bill, im-&M; depth of 

 Bpper mandible at base, .90-1.20; width, .85-1.05; tarsus, g.-S0-8.»0. 



Eange. — North America (rare on the Atlantic Coaet), baeeediag iar 

 northward; in wimtHr , south itoCape Bt. Luitaa, Mexico andChiba. 



Meei, a depressioa in the sand besdaSie fresh water. Uggs, £-7; green- 

 ish-ytellow; 3.10 by 2.07. 



"Ehis .gorsse is a rare migrant ia Indiana. 



'There is a male in if he 'eolleofeioLn of the tOuivier Ciub, 'Cdntsinnflltii, ' ., 

 that was killed in the spring at English Lake. Mr. Euthven Deane 

 h:as seen it at ithe ^ame place. Mr. tC. A. Stoekbiridgeihas a speedmen 

 in hk collection, "ta&en'fft Davis, Ind., in 1874. A gocae ©f itMs species 

 wiae tilled at Peru, April 17, 18M. It was mounted 'by Mr. J. B. 

 ©eastey !for Jos. Andre, of that city. MJr.'Cliafi. L. Barber saw two in 

 the market at Laporte April 4, 189,4. They were Mlkd on'ldie Kan- 

 kakee Eiver, near'that place. Mr. J. G. Duflaai .saw some in , the iChieago 

 Market, from Illinois, April 7, 1894. 



Dr. Langdon notes its occurrence in the vicinity of Cinoinnati, asid 

 itihas been noted afew other times in Ohio. (WTieaton, Birds of Ohio, 

 pp. 517, 518.) It is rare in Michigan. (Oook, Birdb of Michigan, p. 

 46.) In 1876 Mr. Nelson gave it as a very abimdamt migrant, oeeur- 

 riaag in large flocks in Illinois. (Birds of Northeastern Illinois, pp. 

 136, 137.) Mr. Eidgway says nothing of its being even common in 

 1S85, but notes that it irequents open prairies or wlieat ifields, where 

 it nibbles the young and tender blades, 'ajid cornfields, where it tfeeds 

 upon the scattered grains. 



"The mating season is quickly ended, and on May 27, 1878, I 

 found their eggs at the Yukon mouth. From this date on until the 

 middle of June fresh eggs may be found, but very soon after that date 

 the downy young begin to appear. The geese choose for a nesting site 

 the grassy border of a small lakelet, a knoll grown over with moss and 

 grass, or even a flat, sparingly covered with grass. Along the Yukon, 

 Dall found them breeding gregariously, depositing their eggs in a 

 hollow scooped out in the sand. At the Yukon moutli and St. 

 Michaels they were found breeding, scattered in paii-s over the flat 

 country. Every one of the nests examined by me in these places had 

 a ^slight lining of gi-ass or moss, gathered by the parent, and upon this 

 the "first eggs were laid. As the complement of eggs is approached the 

 •female -always plucks down and'feathers from her breast until the eggs 

 Test in 'a warm, soft bed, when incubation commeu'ces. 'The -eggs vary 

 considerably in shape and siize. Some are decidedly elongated; others 



