IQO PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



years old. In spring one familiar with them can tell which 

 will lay by the condition of fatty deposits visible under the 

 skin. If considerable yellow fat is visible about the ab- 

 domen, there is no likelihood of eggs that season. 



Young Remain. When Mr. Beebe wrote the article 

 quoted he stated that the young geese were all pinioned. 

 F. C. Walcott, however, says that now they are allowed to 

 grow up without pinioning, and have full power of flight. 

 Nevertheless, they do not attempt to migrate away, though 

 flocks of wild geese sometimes associate with them on the 

 bays where they feed. In like manner it is reported that in 

 England Canada geese are bred in numbers on large es- 

 tates, and similarly liberated. They remain there the year 

 around, breeding in the natural state, and they and their 

 offspring form large flocks. 



When one month old they are given their liberty. Usu- 

 ally they do not breed until three years old. They mate for 

 Kfe, and invariably return to the nest occupied the previous 

 spring. A pair, as a rule, will not allow another pair to 

 nest within fifty to one hundred yards. Yet they are 

 erratic in this respect, some letting others nest near, others 

 being very jealous. In summer they feed mostly on the 

 land, in small parties, but in winter they seek their living 

 out on the bays and flats. 



On the island foxes are numerous, but do little harm. 

 Minks are abundant and destructive. Dogs are the worst 

 pest. In 1908 twenty-six dogs were shot in the act of killing 

 geese. One year a pair of snow geese hatched four young, 

 the only instance in which this species had bred successfully. 

 When these goslings were half grown they were killed by 

 dogs. Speaking of the snow geese. Doctor Whealton has got a 

 cross from the snow gander and the common goose, and bred 

 back into essentially pure snow geese in several generations. 



