CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 139 



172a. Branta canadensis hutchinsii (Sw. arid Ricb.). Hutchins's Goose. 



Hutchins's Goose is one of the most abundant of tbe geese that occur at Saint Michael's. 

 They arrive in early May and breed all along the coast lowlands. They are especially abundant 

 around the Yukon Delta and lowlands back of Cape Roraanzof. 



Their nesting habits are the same as that of the other geese of the genus. 



The flesh of this species is excellent food in the fall when they are fat. 



On the Aleutian Islands they are especially abundant to the westward of Unalashka, and 

 breed by scores on Atkha and in thousands on the Nearer Islands, being so intimately associated 

 with B. canadensis minima as to be indistinguishable in their habits. 



172c. Branta canadensis minima Ridgw. Cackling Goose. 



The White-cheeked Goose is the first one of its kind that visits the vicinity of Saint Michael's, 

 and arrives about the 1st of May, or even earlier. It is the commonest of all the geese that abound 

 there. It breeds all along the coast of the Yukon district, but is reported to be rare in the interior, 

 its place there being taken by B. canadensis hutchinsii. Tt is also abundant on the Aliaska Peninsula 

 (north side), Bristol Bay, and the lowlands of the Nushagak River district. It may breed at Una- 

 lashka Island, but if it does it is not to my knowledge after repeated inquiry on tbe subject. The 

 westernmost of the Aleutian Islands is also a favorite resort in summer for it. It breeds in great- 

 est abundance on the Semechi Islands and Agattu Island of the extreme western islands. The 

 Semechi Islands are especially adapted as breeding-grounds. They lie in 174° E. longitude, and 

 are low and level, covered with marshes and lagoons rank in aquatic vegetation, among which the 

 geese breed in thousands. 



Tbe upper Yukon District, the Yukon Delta, and south to the Bristol Bay District are fairly alive 

 with them in the breeding season. They remain in Ibis locality until about the 1st of October, 

 while in the Aleutian Islands they remain until the middle of November. This bird does not win- 

 ter in any part of Alaska. The clutch of eggs varies from seven to thirteen, and are laid in a care- 

 lessly-arranged nest composed of dead grasses and few feathers. Tbe young remain with the parents 

 until the latter molt, by the 20th of August, by which time the young are able to fly. This date 

 witnesses a few of the older young and adult males coming from the breeding-grounds on the 

 Semechi Islands to the island of Attu. The geese have exhausted, by that time, the food supply 

 of that place, and repair to Attu to feast on the berries of theVaccinemn that are rapidly ripening. 

 Attu Island has a great many Blue Foxes (V. lagopus) on it; hence is resorted to only by adult 

 birds. The birds arrive poor and lean, but by the 10th of September they abound in thousands, 

 and are very fat at this time. The birds usually alight on the hillsides, and quickly strip the lower 

 areas of the berries that have ripened earlier. Toward the evening the geese resort to the shallow 

 pools (destitute of vegetation, with gravelly bottoms) on tbe sides of the mountains. 



After a certain holiday of the Greco-Russian Church in September, the natives know that the 

 geese have become fat, and every one has prepared himself to bunt them. 



Their miscellaneous assortment of guns — from the old-style Russian spill-out shotgun to the 

 modern thin barreled American or Belgian shotgun, thatkicks as bard behind as it shoots ahead — is 

 carefully dissected. A new tube perhaps is added, but of uncertain fixity of purpose, as it often 

 flies out at times least expected. The breech-pin is taken out and carefully scoured and oiled. In 

 the absence of screws a few thongs of sinew will secure the parts together, and, tightened by means 

 of small wedges of wood, give solidity. It is a ludicrous sight to see an Aleut youth handle a 

 gun of this description. He tries to hit a mark with a large number of shot and but little powder 

 to give them force. He misses the mark, but consoles himself that the gun was fixed up to kill 

 geese. But the younger ones of the youths rarely kill a goose, as they have not yet acquired the 

 native cunning of the elders which enables them to secure more by this means than by relying on the 

 good shooting qualities of their gun. 



The adult natives take to their canoes and go some distance from the village to hunt for several 

 days at a time. They sometimes take the women along to gather berries and roots for winter's use. 

 The men take a small supply ot salt to preserve the geese until their return. When a sufficient 

 number is obtained they take them home and salt them in an old barrel. Should they not be success- 

 ful, and remain out for a long time, the birds become very rank from lack of sufficient salt to preserve 



