464 
LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
lined witli down, which had apparently been plucked by the female from her own 
body. In other instances nests were found by him in similar positions. When built 
on the ground the nests appear to have been variously composed — in one instance of 
decayed leaves, down, and hay ; in another of dry willow sticks and moss, lined with 
feathers and down. Eggs found after the middle of June contained embryos, which 
were more or less developed. In one instance a nest was composed of a quantity of 
turf and decayed vegetable matter lined with down, feathers, and moss. 
Mr. Dali found this bird not uncommon at Fort Yukon, where its eggs were also 
obtained, and it was also taken at Sitka by Bischoff. 
It was found breeding by Mr. Kennicott on Lake Winnipeg in June, at Fort Reso- 
lution as early as April 5, and at Fort Yukon, May 29 ; by Mr. L. Clarke at Fort Rae 
in May, at Fort Simpson by Mr. B. R. Ross, on the Anderson River by Mr. MacFar- 
lane, among the mountains west of the Lower Mackenzie by Mr. R. M’Donald, at 
Port Elder by Mr. Minot, and at Sitka by Bischoff. 
Dr. Berlandier, in his manuscript notes, speaks of it as inhabiting during the win- 
ter the great plains of Tamaulipas, Mexico. He has seen it in flocks of several 
hundreds in the grassy marshes between San Fernando and Matamoras, in the vicinity 
of Soto Le Hanine, etc. It is commonly called Patotriguero. He also met with it in 
December on the central plateau between the Hacienda of Encarnacion and Aguas 
Huevas, near Saltillo. 
Its eggs are of a uniform bright ivory white, of an oval shape ; but vary both in 
size and shape. Specimens in the Smithsonian Collection exhibit the following 
measurements : (Ho. 9455, Anderson River, MacFarlane) 3.25 by 2.15, and 3.10 by 
2.25 inches ; (Ho. 1994) 3.45 by 2.40, and 3.10 by 2.30 inches ; (Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, Ho. 94344) Fort Yukon, 3.45 by 2.10. 
The form called Bernicla occidental is is apparently the Pacific coast representative 
of the common Canada Goose. Examples of it were taken at Sitka by Mr. Bischoff, 
but no mention was made of any specific variations in habit. Since then it is said to 
have been found in great abundance by Mr. Grayson in Western Mexico, rvhere, as 
he states, he saw it in large flocks while on the road to Durango, between the Sierra 
M'adre Mountains and that city. This was in the months of February and March. 
He did not, however, see or hear of any west of the Cordilleras. 
Bernicla Hutchinsi. 
Although the Hutchins’s Goose was first distinctively named by Dr. Richardson 
in the “Fauna Boreali- Americana,” its existence as a well-marked race or species, 
distinct from the canadensis, was well known to Mr. Hearne nearly a century ago. 
Under the name of the Canada Goose, he refers to it as quite distinct from our cana- 
densis, which he calls the common Gray Goose. At the time he wrote it was well 
known to the Indians, as well as to the English, in Hudson’s Bay as the Pisk-a- 
fisl. While it does not differ in plumage from the common Wild Goose, it is much 
inferior in size, the bill is much smaller in proportion to the size of the body, and the 
flesh, which is much whiter, is more highly esteemed as food. It is by no means so 
abundant at Hudson’s Bay as the common species ; and as a general thing it goes 
much farther north to breed. A few pairs were, however, known to have bred near 
Churchill River. It was seldom that either this or the true. Canada Goose was 
known to lay more than four eggs, all of which, if the nests were not robbed, the 
birds usually succeeded in hatching. 
This Goose breeds on the shores of the Arctic Sea ; but in its migrations keeps 
near the sea-coast, and is seldom seen in the interior. 
