THE CANADA GOOSE. 579 



movement for a time. The Geese move usually at a considerable height, 

 forming open V-shaped figures, with the oldest or strongest gander in the 

 lead at the apex ; or else in single oblique lines. Each bird demands as clear 

 a field as possible, and this is best secured by an arrangement which allows 

 each goose to look over the wing of the one next preceding, right or left, 

 according to the branch of the V which it occupies. The line of march 

 shifts and changes under the eye, as the hindmost birds become dissatisfied 

 with their positions, and change sides, or as tired leaders give place to fresher 

 birds; and the changes are accomplished not without much lordly discussion 

 in high-pitched honks. 



When selecting a pond or corner of the lake in which to spend the night, 

 the birds first circle about cautiously at a safe height, and then slide down 

 the air from a point a mile or so away, approaching the water silently and at 

 a low angle. In rising from the water or the ground, the Geese prefer to make 

 a little run, or preliminary flutter, to get headway, but are capable of clearing 

 either by a sudden spring. The flight is heavy and labored at near aspect, 

 but strong and swift when under way. 



Like all Geese this species feeds principally upon tender herbage, berries, 

 sedge roots and aquatic plants. Stubble-fields afford a tempting banquet, 

 and waste corn is eagerly gathered up. In winter the birds are very regular 

 about their meals, rising punctually at daybreak and flying inland to feed 

 for two or three hours in the grain fields. The middle of the day is passed 

 quietly upon the pond, dabbling for water-cress and duck-weed, or enjoying 

 one-legged slumbers on the sand-bar. Hunger drives them to forage again 

 late in the afternoon, usually at the same spot visited in the morning. At 

 such times the Geese are exceedingly vigilant and wary ; and it would appear 

 that when feeding upon the ground, one or more of their number are charged 

 with sentry duty. In countries where winter shooting is still allowed, rifle 

 pits are dug during the night in grain fields known to be frequented by the 

 Geese, and their call imitated by the crouching hunter as they approach at 

 early dawn. 



The Canada Goose probably no longer nests in Ohio, altho it is known 

 to linger in northern Indiana, where "nests with the full complement of eggs 

 are usually found from the first to the third week in May."'^ Usually the 

 nests are made of grass and placed near the borders of sloughs, or else upon 

 the high prairie. Eggs have been taken from the top of muskrat houses, or 

 found on weedy sand-bars, without other nest-lining than the down from the 

 bird's breast. Stories of their occupying Ospreys' or Eagles' nests early 

 in the season are numerous, and, I believe, well founded. In June, 1896, 

 while traveling in northern Washington near the British Columbia line, I 

 came upon two large Ospreys' nests placed at a great height in balm trees, 

 near the Okanogan River, and occupied by the owners. I was informed by 

 a neighboring farmer sportsman, in whose word and judgment I had implicit 



1 Butler, "Birds of Indiana," p. 637. 



