442 
LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
this bird is very excellent eating, and far superior to the Canada Goose in juiciness 
and flavor. The young do not attain to the full plumage of the old bird before their 
fourth year ; and until that period they keep in separate flocks. They are said to 
have been numerous at Fort Albany, in the southern portion of Hudson’s Bay, where 
the old birds were rarely seen ; and, on the other hand, the old birds in their migra- 
tions visit York Factory in great numbers, but always unaccompanied by their young. 
They appear in the spring a few days later than the Canada Geese, and pass in large 
flocks both on the coast and through the interior. 
According to the observations of Mr. Barnston, this species — known among the 
Indians as the TVevois or Wavies — is less conspicuous in the interior than some 
other kinds of Geese. It seldom alights except along the margins of large lakes 
and streams, and the grassy ponds of the prairies. Owing to its arrival in such great 
numbers, it becomes the first object of sport in James Bay, and the havoc made 
there is often very great. In the fall, when flocks of the young birds are passing 
southward, it is no uncommon thing for a good shot to kill a hundred in a single day. 
This bird still forms the staple article of food for natives at the Albany Factory. 
This is the last of the Geese to leave for the south, its migration taking place in the 
latter part of September. 
These birds are deliberate and judicious, Mr. Barnston adds, in their preparations 
for flight, and make their arrangements in a business-like manner. They cease to 
feed in the marshes, keeping out with the retreating tide, and at its flow retiring step 
by step, continually dressing their feathers with their fatty oil. They are then ready 
for the first northerly wind which blows ; and in twenty-four hours the coast so lately 
resonant with their incessant cries, and covered, patch-like, with their whitening 
squadrons, is entirely deserted. 
Reinhardt states that this species is known as a bird of Greenland by the occur- 
rence there of a few stragglers only in immature plumage. It is not known to breed 
in any part of that coast occupied by the Danish settlements, and probably does not 
breed in any part of the island. 
Captain Blakiston speaks of this Goose as being late in its arrival in spring, and 
as delaying behind the others of its family in going south in the autumn. He found 
it quite numerous both on Hudson’s Bay and in the west, tracing it as far as the Rocky 
Mountains. Mr. Ross speaks of it as equally abundant on the Mackenzie. He was 
informed by Mr. Pruden, a fur-trader, that the father of the latter, living at the Red 
River Settlement, had domesticated a pair of these birds, one of which, after a time, 
died. The next fall, as a flock of this species was passing over, one of them separated 
itself from the others, descended, and took up its quarters with the tame Goose, 
remaining there all winter. The following spring, however, it joined its brethren 
as they came by, and proceeded north. In the fall it again returned, rejoining and 
living with its mate of the former winter : this is said to have been repeated for 
several years. 
Mr. Audubon’s observations enabled him to ascertain that this species regularly 
visits the valley of the Mississippi in October, individuals appearing in the immature 
plumage a fortnight or more before the adult birds arrive. As a general thing the 
flocks of old and young kept apart and did not mingle. This Goose was especially 
abundant in the gray plumage about the mouth of the Mississippi, as well as on all 
the muddy or grassy shores of the bays and inlets of the Gulf of Mexico. During 
the rainy seasons it abounds among the large prairies of Louisiana, feeding on the 
roots of plants. It is said to be more silent than any other species, rarely emitting 
any cry except when pursued after being wounded. Dr. Bachman kept for several 
