■832 THEOUGH .THE MACKENZIE BASIN 



the international boundary to the " Barren Grounds " east 

 of the Eocky Mountains. No nests were, however, found 

 in the " Barrens " proper, nor on the Arctic coast, — it 

 lusually lays on the ground, but we have known them to 

 make use of several deserted hawks' nests on trees on their 

 border. This goose is killed in great numbers, for food by 

 the natives and also for the use of the white men resident 

 in the country. Dr. Eichardson also states that they were 

 formerly very abundant on the shores of Hudson Bay. 



Professor Macoun has entered " this species as one of the 

 earliest to arrive in the North- West. It was first seen in 

 1894 at Medicine Hat, on April 7th, by Mr. Spreadborough, 

 and was common by the 16th. It seems to have no fixed 

 place to breed, as it has been found nesting on old muskrat 

 houses in marshes, on masses of dead reeds, in buzzards' nests, 

 on low trees along streams, and in two instances it nested 

 in trees at least forty feet from the ground. In one case the 

 nest was that of a fish hawk, in the other an old nest of the 

 bald eagle. Also breeding on rocks along Milk Eiver, 

 Alberta." The National Museum Collection at Ottawa con- 

 tains one fine specimen, taken at Indian Head in May, 

 1894, and another .purchased with the Holman Collection, 

 and four eggs from Crane Lake, June 9th, 1894, and two 

 taken on Whale Eiver, Ungava Bay, Labrador, June 11th, 

 1896, by Mr. G. Boucher. 



172a. Htjtchin's Goose — Brenta canadensis hutchinsii 



(Eich.). 



Fairly numerous at Fort Chipewyan, where quite a large 

 number were annually shot in the spring and fall, but none 

 were met with there during the summer season. At fort 

 Anderson, however, as well as on the shores and islands of 

 both Liverpool and Franklin bays, some fifty nests were 

 found, including a few from the lower Anderson Eiver. All 

 but one were placed on the ground, and like that of the pre- 

 ceding species, it was a mere cavity lined with a small quan- 



