The Emperor Goose 
255 
welcome new arrivals. They are much less noisy than either the White- 
fronted or Cackling Geese, which often make the tundra resound with 
their excited cries. Occasionally I could cause a passing flock to leave 
its course and swing in close to my place of concealment hy imitating 
their flight-notes. 
Almost at once after their arrival on the islands, the Emperor Geese 
appeared to be mated, the males walking around the 
females, swinging their heads and uttering low love- Mating 
notes ; and incoming flocks quickly disintegrated into 
pairs which moved aboul^ together, though often congregating with many 
others on flats and sand-bars. The male was entremely jealous and 
pugnacious, however, and immediately resented the slightest approach 
of another toward his choice ; and this spirit was shown equally when 
an individual of another species chanced to come near. When a pair 
was feeding, the male moved restlessly about, constantly on the alert, and 
at the first alarm the pair drew near one another, and just before taking 
wing uttered a deep, ringing u-liigh, u-lugh; these, like the flight-notes, 
having a peculiar deep tone impossible to describe. 
At low tide, as soon as the shore ice disappeared, the broad mud- 
flats along shore were thronged with them in pairs and in groups. They 
were industriously dabbling in the mud for food until satisfied, and then 
congregated on bars, where they sat dozing in the 
sun or lazily arranging their feathers. By lying flat 
on the ground and creeping cautiously forward, I 
repeatedly approached within thirty or forty yards of parties near shore 
without their showing^ any uneasiness. 
Early in June, they began depositing eggs on the flat, marshy islands 
bordering the sea. The nests were most numerous a short distance back 
from the muddy feeding-grounds, but stray pairs were found nesting 
here and there farther inland. One must have lain with neck outstretched 
on the ground, as I afterward found was their custom when approached, 
for the Eskimo and I passed within a few feet of each side of her; but, 
in scanning the ground for nesting birds, the general similarity in tint of 
the bird and the obvious stick of driftwood beside her had completely 
misled our sweeping glances. 
The same ruse misled us several times ; but on each occasion the parent 
betrayed her presence by a startled outcry and hasty departure soon after 
we had passed her and our backs were presented. They usually flew to 
a considerable distance, and showed little anxiety over 
our visit to the nests. When first laid, the five to eight Breeding 
eggs are pure white, but they soon become soiled. Habits 
When the complement of eggs to be laid approaches completion, the 
parent lines the depression in the ground with a soft, warm bed of 
fine grass, leaves, and feathers from her own breast. The males were 
rarely seen near the nests, but usually gathered about the feeding-grounds 
with others of their kind, where they were joined now and then by their 
mates. 
Nests and 
Eggs 
