244 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



The principal winter home of the Emperor Goose is on the sea- 

 coast of southwestern Alaska, and only stragglers reach California. 

 But it is probable that if all of the Emperor Geese ever observed in 

 California had been recorded, it would be found that almost every 

 year one or two of the birds had made their way within our borders. 

 At least ten definite instances of the occurrence of the Emperor Goose 

 in this state are known. In spite of the fact that this is a marine 

 species most of the records are from the interior valleys. Mr. Vernon 

 Shepherd, a taxidermist of San Francisco, informs us that he has 

 known of the capture of at least a dozen specimens of this goose since 

 1906. There is also an unconfirmed statement current to the effect 

 that two Emperor Geese were taken from a small flock in the Alamitos 

 marshes of Los Angeles County about twenty years ago (Payne, 1908, 

 p. 770). 



Nelson (1887, p. 90) says that Emperor Geese may be distinguished 

 at long distances by their heavy bodies, short necks, and by their 

 short, quick wing-strokes, which very much resemble those of the Black 

 Sea Brant. Although not as agile on the wing as the latter birds, 

 or, in fact, as any of the other geese, they are swift fliers when under 

 way. The bluish ash color of the plumage with scaling of black, the 

 extensively white hood abruptly contrasted with black on the throat 

 and foreneck, the white-ended , tail, and the bright-colored bill and 

 feet, easily distinguish this goose from all others. Its note is said to 

 be shriller and clearer than that of other geese. 



Eegarding the nesting of the Emperor Goose in Alaska Nelson 

 (1887, p. 90) writes: 



Soon after their arrival they began to pair, and were seen flying about 

 in couples, keeping close to the ground, rarely flying over 20 or 30 yards high, 

 and often barely keeping clear of the surface. The males are extremely 

 jealous and pugnacious, never allowing one of their kind to approach within 

 a number of yards without making an onslaught upon the intruder. The same 

 belligerent spirit is shown to the other species of geese should one of them 

 chance to draw too near. 



While a pair is feeding the male keeps moving restlessly about, with eyes 

 constantly on the alert, and at the first alarm they draw near together and 

 just before they take wing both utter a deep, ringing u-lUgh, u-lugh. As in 

 the case of the call-note, this has a peculiar, deep hoarseness, impossible to 

 describe. 



The first of June they began depositing their eggs on the flat, marshy 

 islands bordering the sea. At low tide the broad mud-flats on the shore were 

 thronged with them, and after feeding until satisfied they congregated on 

 bars until the incoming water forced them to disperse. They nested most 

 abundantly on the salt marshes adjacent to these feeding grounds, and the 

 eggs were often placed among fragments of drift-wood below the mark of 

 the highest tides. Stray pairs were found nesting further inland on the 

 marshy meadows, also frequented by the other species of geese, but on the 

 salt flats, near tide water, the Emperor Geese held undisputed possession. 



