I 1908.] BIRDS. 299 



'I 



the sandy shores above high-water mark. A^Hiile descending Bear 

 Kiver, September 29, I noted several large flocks flying southward. 

 The species was last seen on October 3, when I saw a flock flying 

 southward along the Mackenzie, 20 miles below the mouth of Gravel 

 River. 



In the spring of 1904 I first saw snow geese at Fort Simpson on 

 May 2, noting upward of 40. On May 3 several small flocks, aggre- 

 gating about 50 individuals, were seen. The bulk of the species 

 passed over May 9 to 11, many large flocks, daily aggregating hun- 

 dreds of individuals, being observed during this time, and smaller 

 numbers daily, May 12 to 17. The last, a few scattering individuals, 

 were seen May 24 and 25. They all passed in V-shaped flocks, never 

 alighting in the vicinity, usually flying high, and but rarely descend- 

 ing low enough for even a chance shot. With rare exceptions, the 

 flocks did not follow the course of the Mackenzie, but first appeared 

 in sight over the land from the southward or from the Liard, and 

 disappeared nearly due northward. 



AAliile at Fort McPherson early in July I saw numbers of these 

 geese in possession of the Eskimo. They had been killed on their 

 breeding grounds, about the mouth of the Mackenzie, in June, and 

 preserved b}^ being kept in the water, hanging in bunches from the 

 stern of the boat. When the birds are desired for use the feathers 

 are scraped off and the birds roughly drawn. On account of their 

 high condition at this stage only a slight amount of cooking is re- 

 quired, but during this brief process close proximity to the kettle 

 is undesirable. I was informed by E. S. Jones, a young missionary 

 who had accompanied a party of Eskimo from Herschel Island, that 

 large numbers of the birds were found nesting on the western shore 

 of Richards Island in June. 



During Richardson's journey along the Arctic coast in the summer 

 of 1848, snow geese were procured on Darnley Bay August 17, at 

 which date they were migrating along the coast toward the south- 

 east.° Many were seen near Bloody Fall, Coppermine River, on Sep- 

 tember 5.* They were stated by Richardson to breed on Wollaston 

 Land, " to which they cross in the beginning of June. We had noticed* 

 while on the coast of Dolphin and Union Straits, the earliest bands 

 traveling southward again in the middle of August, so that their 

 stay in their native place falls short of three months."^ In the follow- 

 ing spring Richardson noted their arrival at Fort Franklin, Great 

 Bear Lake, May 18, while Doctor Rae observed large flocks passing 

 northward at Fort Confidence on May 30 and Sl.'^ In 1838, Thoipas 



"Arctic Searching Expedition, I, jj. 282, 1851. 

 » Ibid., p. 318, 1851. 

 ^ Ibid., p. 320, 1851. 



<^ Arctic Searching Expedition, II, pp. 105-106, 1851. 



