agricultural fields adjoin shallow estuarine 
bays. Young sprout growth of wheat, rye, and 
barley, and the leaves, stems and rootstalks 
of various submerged plants are consumed in 
considerable quantities. Geese occasionally 
feed extensively in hayfields, pastures, and 
soybean fields. 
Rootstalks and stems of certain emergent 
marsh plants probably are most important in 
the large estuarine bay marshes and coastal 
salt marshes. Rootstalks and stems of common 
three~square and Olney three-square are taken 
in large quantities in the fresh and brackish 
estuarine bay marshes. Saltmarsh cordgrass 
and saltgrass are eaten more commonly in 
the salt estuarine bay marshes and coastal 
embayed marshes. Other important foods in- 
clude the leaves, stems, and rootstalks of 
submerged plants (especially widgeongrass) 
and the seeds of common three-square, twig- 
rush, and other emergent plants. Corn and 
sprout growth of wheat and rye are taken in 
fair amounts in certain areas where fields 
are nearby. 
Local Distribution of Hunting Kill 
Information concerning the local distribu- 
tion of the hunting kill of Canada Geese within 
the Upper Chesapeake region (excluding the 
Coastalsection) was obtained through ananaly- 
sis of the distribution of 133 weighted recover- 
ies of birds banded outside Maryland and 
Virginia (table 40), These recoveries were 
reported during the years 1951-58. The num- 
ber per year ranged from 8 in 1951 and 1954 
to 39 in 1956, Data from the Coastal section 
were excluded because the breeding-ground 
origin and migration routes of birds in the 
Coastal section differ somewhat from birds 
in Chesapeake Bay proper (based on unpub- 
lished data in the Bureau's banding of- 
fice). 
About 83% of the total kill occurred in the 
Chester River, Choptank River, Lower Eastern 
Shore, and Upper Eastern Shore sections. 
Approximately 72% of the kill occurred in the 
estuarine bay - agricultural field complex that 
extends from the Bohemia River to the Chop- 
tank River; about 23% of the kill occurred in 
the estuarine bay marsh complex below the 
Choptank River; and nearly 5% along the 
Potomac River estuary. A more detailed 
analysis showed that the kill was heavily 
concentrated in a few local areas: central 
Chester River area - 20% of total; Sassafras 
River - 10%; central Choptank River - 10%; 
north shore of lower Choptank River - 8%; 
and lower Tangier Sound - 7%. The kill of 
Canada Geese as related to their local popula- 
tions was proportionally high in the Lower 
Eastern Shore section and proportionally low 
in the Blackwater-Nanticoke section, Kill data 
arranged by months showed that 53% of the 
kill was in November, 31% in December, and 
16% in January. 
33 
Harvest Areas of Birds Banded in the Upper 
Chesapeake Region 
Data concerning harvest areas of Canada 
Geese banded at the Blackwater National 
Wildlife Refuge during the years 1951-58 
came from 105 indirect band recoveries re- 
ported to the Bureau's banding office (table 41). 
About half of the recoveries from birds 
banded in fall and roughly two-thirds of those 
from birds banded in winter and spring were 
from the mid-Atlantic States. More than one- 
third of the recoveries from birds banded in 
fall and winter and about half of those from 
birds banded in spring were from Maryland. 
The only other important harvest area was 
the province of Quebec and adjoining parts 
of east-central Canada, where nearly half of 
the recoveries from fall-banded birds were 
taken. Less than one-fifth of the recoveries 
from winter- and spring-banded birds were 
taken in this area, These differences may 
indicate that Canada Geese present in the 
Upper Chesapeake region in fall come from 
different breeding grounds and have different 
migration routes from those present in winter 
and spring. 
The magnitude of the kill of Canada Geese 
in Maryland is shown by the kill in Kent 
County, where about 35,000 birds were shot 
during the 1956 season (Linduska, 1958), 
Most of these birds, however, were taken with 
the aid of recording machines, whose use for 
this purpose has since been declared illegal. 
The kill of Canada Geese in Kent County has 
been appreciably lower since then. 
BRANT 
Branta bernicla (Linnaeus) 
Brant are common spring and fall transients 
and winter residents on the coastal bays during 
most years. Fairly large numbers occasionally 
occur along the eastern shore of Chesapeake 
Bay in the area from Pocomoke Sound to the 
Honga River. A few flocks sometimes are 
present farther up between the Honga River 
and the lower portion of Eastern Bay. 
Numbers vary greatly from year to year. 
January inventories for 1953-58 show that the 
wintering population ranged from 100 in 1955 
to 32,200 in 1954, averaged 9,300. This aver-~ 
age figure represents about 5% of the continen- 
tal wintering population, which is restricted 
almost entirely to the Atlantic coastal area 
from Massachusetts to North Carolina. Ap- 
proximately 99% of the average wintering 
population of the Upper Chesapeake region 
during 1955-58 was in the Coastal section; 
less than one-half of one percent was in the 
Lower Eastern Shore section and the Choptank 
River section, The fall migration ordinarily 
takes place during the period of October 10- 
20 to December 10-20, with the peak between 
