102 
ZOOLOGY. 
and depart with them, they migrate northward early in the spring, and pass the summer far 
above the Columbia, many of them spending the short season on the shores of the Arctic sea. 
With the approach of cold weather, they return toward the south, their numbers augmented by 
all the young of the season. They travel by stages, stopping, from time to time, in such 
places as afford them food, and remaining at these resting places till admonished by the frosts 
of the necessity of another movement. A large number remain in the valleys of Oregon 
during the winter, but by far the greater part pass on toward the valleys of California, where 
winter is almost unknown. They begin to appear in California early in October, but most of 
them arrive in November and December. 
The present species is most highly esteemed of all the geese which come into the San Fran¬ 
cisco market, good ones being worth from 75 cents to $1 per pair, while Hutchins’ geese are 
worth but 50 cents per pair. These prices, where the expenses of living are so great, indicate 
their abundance. 
The speckling of the under surface is a constant character in this species, though liable to 
considerable variation in degree. Among many hundreds which I examined, a few only were 
uniformly brown below. 
ANAS BOSCHAS. 
The Mallard. 
Very common in all parts of the west visited by us. We found them breeding in many 
different localities in the interior, and on the mountain streams and lakes. 
MARECA AMERICANA. 
The American Widgeon or Baldpate. 
Common in California, and on the Columbia and Willamette, in Oregon. 
ANAS STREPERA. 
The G-adwall or Grey Duck. 
The gadwall is, apparently, not common in California, but I saw it occasionally in San 
Francisco in November and December. 
DAFILA ACUTA. 
The Pin-tail. 
Common in California and Oregon in winter. 
QUERQUEDULA CAROLINENSIS. 
The Green-winged Teal. 
This beautiful duck, the rival of the more gorgeous wood duck, is, like the mallard, univer¬ 
sally diffused over the Pacific provinces. We found them breeding in the interior in summer, 
and congregated in great numbers, with other water fowl, on the Columbia and about San 
Francisco in winter. 
AIX SPONSA. 
The Wood Duck. 
Common throughout California, Oregon, and Washington. There, as everywhere, when 
found, the handsomest of the family. 
