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The Geese ( Subfamily Anserince). — The lesser snow 
goose is probably the white goose that was once so abun- 
dant in Massachusetts Bay and on Cape Cod, according to 
the tales of the early settlers. It is now so rare as to be 
regarded as merely an accidental visitor, and I am not aware 
of any very recent capture of this bird in Massachusetts. 
The Canada goose, although still a common migrant, has 
decreased in numbers within my recollection. Mr. Elbridge 
Gerry of Stoneham, who has been a market hunter for nearly 
seventy years, says there were a hundred geese in his boy- 
hood days to one now; and yet he believes that more are 
being killed now than in former years, on account of the use 
of trained live decoys. This bird once nested here, but now 
breeds mainly north of the United States. According to Mr. 
William Brewster, it is now protected on its breeding grounds 
on the island of Anticosti. This island, some forty miles 
in length, is studded with numerous ponds, where the geese 
can now breed unmolested. This protection, together with 
the extreme wariness the birds have acquired, may account 
in part for their having held their numbers so well in their 
flights along our coast for the last twenty years. Fifty to 
seventy years ago the geese often flew very low over the 
country, and sometimes they alighted in pastures and corn- 
fields ; now they usually fly high, and seldom alight except 
on some sheet of water. Mr. Mackay believes that the Can- 
ada geese are not now decreasing at Nantucket. 
The Brant goose, which was once remarkably abundant all 
along our shores, was very numerous some seasons in migra- 
tion at Chatham and some other points on Cape Cod up to 
the latter part of the last century, but rather rare elsewhere. 
I am informed by Mr. Elbridge Gerry that Brant are now 
few even there, in comparison with their former numbers. 
These are probably the only three species of geese that 
were ever abundant in Massachusetts. 
The Bay and Sea Ducks ( Subfamily Fuligulince ) . — 
Ducks are divided into three subfamilies, — bay and sea 
ducks, river and pond ducks, and mergansers or sheldrakes. 
The first subfamily, the bay and sea ducks, is composed 
of birds that find their food by diving. These birds breed 
