68 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XIV 
been accustomed to make frequent excursions in late April and early ]\lay for 
the purpose of collecting fresh g’oose eggs for use on the table. ]\Ir. Connolly 
of Bijou, having a permit, collected a set which he placed to hatch under a hen, 
but without success. Shortly after, the local game warden issued warning, and 
the rifling of goose nests was .stopped. 
Anxious to learn .something of their ne.sting habits, and hoping I might be 
in time to find a nest or so. May 23 found me rowing up the fresh water sloughs 
of the marsh, unmindful of the numerous terns, blackbirds, and other swamp 
denizens, in my quest for a prospective home of the goose. Nor was I long 
without reward, for when about one hundred feet from a little island that boasted 
of a few lodgepole pine saplings and one willow, a goose rose from her nest, took 
a short run, and rising with heavy flight and loud cries, flew out to open water, 
where she was joined by her mate. The cries of the pair echoed so loudly over 
t'ig. 2.3. NEST OF CAN.\DA GOOSE: DEAD MAN’S ISLAND, LAKE T.AHOE. 
THE EGGS WERE COVERED WITH DOWN BY THE PARENT BIRD 
WHEN leaving THE NEST 
the marsh that it seemed the whole region must be awakened. 
Landing on the island I found on the ground, at the edge of the willow, a 
large built-up nest with seven almost fresh eggs. The nest was composed wholly 
of dry marsh grasses and down, and measured twenty-two inches over all, while 
the cavity was eleven inches across and three inches deep. The eggs measured 
in inches: 3.43x2.21, 3.40x2.21, 3.32x2.25, 3.31x2.22, 3.20x2.25, 3.13x2.25, 
3.06x2.15. They are dull yellowish white in color, and in shape vary from ovate 
to elongate ovate. 
After a row of several miles 1 noticed a gander in the offing, whose swimming 
in circles and loud honking gave assurance that the nesting precincts of another 
jiair had been invaded. A heavily timbered island, now close at hand, seemed 
the most probable nesting place. This isle was so swampy that most of the 
