WILD GEESE. 253 
patch in the center and on the sides, and the collar on 
the nape is interrupted behind by an isthmus of black. 
This species is so much attached to the sea-coast that 
it rarely resorts to inland streams or tarns, its favorite 
habitat being the salt marshes and tidewater lands where 
it can find eel-grass and kindred vegetation. It travels 
in small strings when migrating, and generally keeps 
along the coast, so as to be ready to drop to the land when 
it is fatigued or it desires to seek shelter from a fierce 
storm of wind. I have found it over two hundred miles 
from salt water, however, and from this I should infer 
that it will feed and thrive on the aquatic plants that 
grow in lakes and rivers. I have also seen it mingled 
with gulls, ducks, and other birds occasionally; it can, 
therefore, change its habits, if forced to do so by circum- 
stances, for it is naturally so unsociable as to avoid all 
contact with others of the feathered creation. I have 
heard cattle-ranchers say that it breeds as far south as 
the California line, and that its nests may be found in 
the Klamath Basin, in Oregon, which has an altitude of 
nearly five thousand feet above the level of the sea. This 
seems probable, as the climate of that region, owing to 
its elevation, is very cool in summer, and the surround- 
ing country abounds with lakes, which produce many 
species of water-plants in profusion. Nearly every spe- 
cies of aquatic or wading bird on the North Pacific Coast 
may be seen in that wild retreat during the breeding 
season, for the marshes are so thronged with nests that 
it is almost impossible for a person to pass through them 
without treading on eggs or young birds. 
The Canada goose (Branta canadensis) is the most 
widely distributed species of its family, being found in 
every part of Canada and the United States, except the 
extreme southern regions of the latter country. It is 
also one of the largest and handsomest members of its 
race, and is not excelled by any of its wild congeners in 
