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Home , Canada goose, Canada Goose (clothing), Ekwan River, Fauna of Illinois, Jack Miner, Ottawa Islands

STATE OF Adlai E. Stevenson, Governor DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

Noble J. Puffer, Director

NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION

Harlow B. Mills, Chief

Volume 25 B U L L E T I N Article 3

Canada Geese of the Mississippi Flyway

tVith Special Reference

to an Illinois Flock

HAROLD C. HANSON ROBERT H. SMITH

Printed hy .lulhorily of the State of Illinois

URBANA, ILLINOIS

March 1950 .

STATE OF ILLINOIS Adlai E. Stevenson, Governor DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

Noble J. Puffer, Director BOARD OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION Noble J. Puffer, Chairman Stoddard, Ph.D., Litt.D., L.H.D., A. E. Emerson, Ph.D., Biology George D. President the University Illinois L. H. Tiffany, Ph.D., Forestry LL.D., of of L R. HowsoN, B.S.C.E., C.E., Walter H. Newhouse, Ph.D., Geology Engineering Roger Adams, Ph.D., D.Sc, Chemistry NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY DIVISION Urbana, Illinois Scientific and Technical Staff Harlow B. Mills, Ph.D., Chief Bessie B. Henderson, M.S., Assistant to the Chief

Section of Economic Entomology Section of Applied Botany and Plant Pa- thology George C. Decker, Ph.D., Entomologist and Head Leo R. Tehon, Ph.D., Botanist and Head Bigger, M.S., Entomologist J. H. J. Cedric Carter, Ph.D., Plant Pathologist English, Ph.D., Entomologist L. L. J. L. Forsberg, M.S., Associate Plant Patholo- Entomologist C. J. Weinman, Ph.D., gist S. C. Chandler, B.S., Associate Entomologist G. H. Boewe, M.S., Assistant Plant Pathologist Willis N. Bruce, M.A., Assistant Entomologist Robert A. Evers, M.S., Assistant Botanist Entomologist John M. Wright, M.A., Assistant Joan H. Laube, B.S., B.M., Technical Assistant H. B. Petty, M.A., Associate in Entomology Extension Research M. Bann, B.S., Research Assistant Section of and Manage- James ment Section of Faunistlc Surveys and G. Scott, Ph.D., Game Specialist and Identification Thomas Head H. H. Ross, Ph.D., Systematic Entomologist Ralph E. Yeatter, Ph.D., Game Specialist and Head Frank C. Bellrose, B.S., Associate Game Spe- Milton W. Sanderson, Ph.D., Associate Tax- cialist onomist Harold C. Hanson, M.S., Assistant Game Spe- Lewis Stannard, Jr., M.S., Assistant Tax- J. cialist onomist James S. Jordan, M.F., Assistant Game Tech- Leonora K. Gloyd, M.S., Laboratory Assistant nician Philip W. Smith, B.S., Laboratory Assistant William Nuess, Laboratory Assistant Carolyn E. Shroyer, Technical Assistant Section of Aquatic Biology Cooperative Wildlife Research George W. Bennett, Ph.D., Aquatic Biologist and Head (Hlinois Department of Conservation and U.S. Wildlife Service, Cooperating) WiLLiA.vi C. Starrett, Ph.D., Associate Aquat- and

ic Biologist Paul J. Moore, B.S., Project Leader D. F. Hansen, Ph.D., Assistant Aquatic Bi- George C. Arthur, B.S., Project Leader ologist Lysle R. Pietsch, M.F., Project Leader R. VVeldon Larimore, M.S., Research Assist- John C. Calhoun, B.S., Assistant Project ant Leader

Daniel Avery, Field Assistant William J. Harth, M.S., Project Leader Leonard Durham, B.S., Technical Assistant Section of Forestry WiLLET N. Wandell, M.F., Forester and Head Lawson B. Culver, B.S., Associate in Forestry Section of Publications and Public Rela- Extension tions Henri D. Crawley, M.F., Junior Forester James S. Ayars, B.S., Technical Editor and Technical Library Head Marguerite Simmons, M.A., M.S., Technical Blanche P. Young, B.A., Assistant Technical Librarian Editor Ruth Warrick, B.S., Assistant Technical Li- Charles L. Scott, B.S., Assistant Technical brarian Photographer

Consultant in Herpetology: Hobart M. Smith, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Zoology, University of Hlinois.

This paper is a contribution from the .Section of Game Research and Management (80159—4,500—6-49) <,^g^2 FORE W ORD

OF all of the geese inhabiting North This is the problem that faced those in- America, the stands at terested in the geese wintering in Illinois. or near the top of the list in general From nesting grounds on the west side of recognition, and as a game . So well in Canada, one segment of the known is it that the mention of wild goose Canade goose population moved south and brings to the average person a mental pic- west, and in recent years wintered to a very ture of the great gray-bodied, black-necked, large extent at the Horseshoe Lake Game white-jowled "honker." Francis Kortright, Refuge in Alexander County, Illinois. About in his The Ducks, Geese and Swans of half of the population of geese in the Mis- says, "Sagacity, wariness, sissippi flyway concentrated in a small area strength and fidelity are characteristics of where excessive could conceivably the which, collectively, are have affected numbers and hunting successes possessed in the same degree by no other in a very large area both inside and out- bird." The cold, calculating, investigative, side the state. The object of the study re- scientific eye may occasionally cast doubt ported herein was to ascertain the health on the completeness with which some of of the Horseshoe Lake population, and this these traits permeate the whole population study required a broad attack both as re- (as will be noted in this report). One can, lated to the subject matter investigated and if he searches diligently, find a thriftless the geography involved. Scotchman. Both of the authors have been far afield Wide distribution, great size, and habits in this study. Mr. Smith, as Flyway Bi- conspicuous to the ear and eye have all ologist for the Fish and Wild- assisted in making the Canada goose a life Service, has had an opportunity allowed well-known bird ; but most of the knowl- to but a very few to observe this and other edge concerning it has been general and Canada goose populations. Mr. Hanson superficial. During some time in the year spent several years at Horseshoe Lake and this goose may be seen from one coast to parts of two summers in the James Bay the other and from northern Canada to the nesting area Gulf of . To the average person The section titled "Population Survival" this wide distribution might mean that the represents an attempt to analyze a difficult elimination of the from any of its problem with data difficult to obtain in areas of habitation would be difficult. But quantity. The data available have been every field biologist is familiar with the so- explored by Mr. Hanson, and certain con- called "flyway concept" that has devel- clusions reached. These conclusions, it is oped in the past few decades. This con- realized, may vary somewhat from the true cept, backed by a large quantity of band- picture, but it is felt that their inclusion is

recovery data and general observation, is worth while as a stimulus to a fuller in- that the whole population of a migratory vestigation of this problem even if there species may be divided into subpopulations, were no other values accruing. each having rather definite nesting and A study such as the following must of wintering areas and routes of movement. necessity have authors. It is obvious, how- with a minimum of mixing among these ever, that an investigation of this magni- suhpopulation groupings. tude is the result of the authors' efforts On the basis of this thinking, the study plus assistance from many people in numer- of a migratory species breaks down into a ous ways. To all who helped in any way number of geographic units, and the suc- we are deeply grateful. cess or failure of one flyway population may affect but little the populations of other Harlow B. Mills, Chief fiyways. Illinois Natural History Survey

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments 67

Materials and Methods 70 Data From Horseshoe Lake 70 Data From Sanctuary 70

Data From (^ther Areas 7.?

Data From Questionnaires 7.?

The Flyway Concept 74

Eastern Populations 74 North Atlantic Population 77

Hudson-James Bay Populations 77

Hudson-James Bay Breeding Range 79

Limits of Range 79 West Coast Muskey: Types 92 West Coast Production Centers 96

Nest Sites 101

Migration 103

Autumn Migration Routes 10.?

Spring Migration Routes 109

Time and Rate of Migrations 110

Winter Concentrations 112 Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary 114

Illinois 116

Michigan 120

Wisconsin 121

Ohio 121

Indiana 121 Arkansas 122 Lower Mississippi River 122 Coastal Marshes 124

Goose Behavior and Hunting Losses 125 Wariness, Innate and Acquired 126 Family Grouping 127 Sociability 128

History of Goose Hunting in Illinois 129

Annual Bag 1.^5 On Breeding Grounds 135 Southern Canada and United States 142 Total Annual Bag 148

Canada vs. United States Kill 149 Differential Hunting Losses 152

Crippling Losses 155 Miscellaneous Mortality Factors 158 Lead Poisoning 158 Starvation 15" Bound Crop 159 Predators 161 Diseases 161

Parasites 162

Productivity 163 Breeding Potential 163 Actual Productivity 166 Data From Horseshoe Lake 166

Theoretical vs. Actual Productivity 171

Flock Sizes 171 Population Survival 172

Definition of Terms 1 72 Mortality 172 Longevity 186

Discussion 1 88 Status 189 Management 191

Present Situation 195

Summary 196

Appendix A, The Southeast Population 199 Breeding Range 199 Migration Routes 199 Wintering Concentrations 199 Future Status 202

Appendix B, Classification of the Canada Geese of the 203

Literature Cited 205

^ -^

r-'

Evening flight of Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake. Canada Geese of the Mississippi Flyway

^^ith Special Reference

to an Illinois Flock

HAROLD C . HANSON ROBERT H. SMITH*

HORSESHOE LAKE, formed the Mississippi Ri\'er valley, the goose from an ancient oxbow of the flock using Horseshoe Lake gradually Alississippi River, lies in Alex- lost most of its fear of man and gunfire ander County, Illinois, at the southwest while near the refuge. The obvious re- tip of the state, fig. 1. An area, totaling sult of the greatly increased shooting 3,489.77 acres, that includes the lake and pressure and the loss of normal wariness the island it surrounds, was purchased by was a tremendous increase in the kill. the Illinois State Department of Con- Large annual kills made at Horseshoe servation in 1927 for use as a wildlife Lake, beginning in 1939, focused the at- refuge. Subsequent purchases in 1941, tention of wildlife administrators on the 1945, and 1946 added about 220 acres need for a long-term management program to the area, now known as the Horseshoe in that area. In recognition of tiiis need, Lake Game Refuge. the Natural History Survey Division of That the plan of use for the Horse- the Illinois State Department of Regis- s'loe Lake area was eminently successful tration and Education instituted the re- from the standpoint of attracting wildlife search program on which the present re- soon became evident. Flocks of Canada port is based. AVhen it became evident geese that previously had wintered along that the Horseshoe Lake goose problem the Mississippi River in the region of was not only of local importance, but southern Illinois left their traditional national and international in scope, the wintering grounds for the food supph' and United States Fish and Wildlife Service the rest lake pro\ ided by the refuge. In initiated a program of investigations to recent \ears, for varying periods during the cover the entire range of the Canada autumn and winter, tiie Horseshoe Lake goose population wintering in the Mis-

Game Refuge and the countryside im- sissippi River \alley ; these investigations mediatel)' around it have contained ap- extended from the James Bay region of proximately 50 per cent of the Canada Canada to the coastal marshes of Louisi- goose population wintering in the entire ana.

Mississippi River \ alley. Along with the increase in numbers of ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake there the generous co-operation on the were two developments of pr'mary im- For research project at Horseshoe Lake by portance: a tremendous increase in shoot- the Illinois Department of Conservation, ing pressure on the flock and an altera- the agency \\hich operates and maintains tion in the behavior of the geese. Once tiie refuge, special appreciation is due as wary as any waterfowl population in officials or emplo\ees of tiie Department ' Flyway Biologist, Uniled States Fi^ll and Wildlife Servici active during the period of field work:

[67] 68 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin V'ol. 25, Art. .^

HORSESHOE LAKE

Fig. 1.—Map showing the boundaries and location of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, 1946. The refuge area totaled about 3,700 acres at the end of that year. The original purchase, in 1927, involved about 3,500 acres. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 69

Livingston E. Osborne, Director; Lewis northeastern Manitoba. Appreciation is E. Martin, Harold L. Gray, and Joe B. due for the support given this program Davidson, members of the administrati\e by L. H. Barkhausen, B. W. Cartwright, staff; and Vernal Nave, C. E. Laughery, and Arthur Bartley. Paul Queneau of and Kenneth Long, refuge managers. Westport, Connecticut, rendered valuable The inception of the Canada goose study assistance during these flights by operating at Horseshoe Lake was in no small meas- one of the aerial cameras used and keeping ure due to Paul S. Smith, formerly Chief a personal flight log of his observations. Conservation Officer, Illinois Department We are grateful to Father John M. of Conservation, and later Game Man- Cooper of the Catholic University of agement Agent of the United States Fish America for permission to quote from his and Wildlife Service. He was one of the unpublished report on tribal and family first to recognize the serious consequences hunting grounds in the James Bay area of the high Canada goose kills in southern and to reproduce a portion of his accom- Illinois and to awaken others to its dan- panying map, fig. 9. This report, on file gers. The valuable co-operation given the in the Indian Affairs Branch, Canada research program by Smith was continued Department of Mines and Resources, was by his successor, Vernon C. Conover. made available to us through the courtesy For their official helpfulness and per- of T. R. L. Maclnnes. sonal interest in the research program, we Employees of the Hudson's Bay Com- are indebted to the late Dr. Theodore H. pany and other residents of the James Bay Prison, formerly Chief, to Dr. Leo R. area have shown us many courtesies and Tehon, formerly Acting Chief, and to contributed information. W^e are in- Dr. Harlow B. Mills, present Chief, of debted to William B. Anderson, ^V. J. the Illinois Natural History Survey; to Cobb, Mathew Cowan, R. M. Duncan, Dr. Clarence Cottam, Fredrick C. William Faries, C. C. Forman, William Lincoln, Jesse F. Thompson, Leo Couch, Glennie, Patrick Houston, Wesley Hous- Dr. Gustav A. Swanson, and Richard ton, A. H. Michell, Father Leopold Griffith, all of them during the period of iMorin, Thomas Rettalack, Norman Ross, field work with the United States Fish and Arthur Sullivan, and the late James W'att Wildlife Service; to Dr. Harrison F. and Mrs. W^att. The above people, as Lewis and T. S. Hennessey of the well as the following, have zealously re-

Dominion Wildlife Service, Canada De- ported bands in past years : J. W^. Ander- partment of Mines and Resources; and to son, Bishop Henri Belleau, Father Bilo- Dr. T. J. Orford of the Indian Affairs deau, George S. Cotter, H. Gibbs, the Branch, Canada Department of Mines Rev. Arnold C. Herbert, Brother Gerard and Resources. Lavoie, the Rev. D. A. MacLachlan, Manly Miner, President of the Jack Norman Mathew, L. G. Maver, P. A. C. Miner Migratory Bird Foundation, Inc., Nichols, E. H. Riddell, the Rev. H. A. acting in behalf of the Miner family and Turner, the Rev. J. H. Turner, J. B. the Miner Foundation, was most helpful Tyrer, and Harold Udgarden. during the course of this study. For per- For information on the wintering mission of the Miner family to compile grounds and kills of Canada geese in and analyze the Miner goose-banding rec- various states we are indebted as follows: ords, we are deeply appreciative. for Alichigan, Herbert J. Miller and The senior author was privileged to un- Dr. Miles D. Pirnie; for Wisconsin, dertake field studies in the James Bay area Therman Deerwester and F. R. Zimmer- in 1946 and 1947 under the auspices of man; for Minnesota, Frank D. Blair; for the Institute of North America. Indiana, William B. Barnes; for Iowa. For helpfulness in connection with this Bruce F. Stiles; for Missouri, M. O. activity we wish to thank Dr. A. L. Wash- Steen. Data for other states have been burn, Executive Director of the Institute. gathered largely by the authors, but Frank In 1947, Ducks Unlimited provided the C. Bellrose of the Illinois Natural His- senior author with funds for an aerial re- tory Survey has furnished us with the in- connaissance of the breeding grounds of formation on Canada goose concentrations the Canada goose in northern and in the Illinois River valley. 70 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

From 1940 through 1943, staff mem- gation of conditions at and near Horse- bers of the Illinois Natural History Sur- shoe Lake. The first successful trap vey carried out studies of a captive Canada used at Horseshoe Lake was designed and goose flock on the Bright Land Farm near constructed by John M. Anderson and Barrington, Illinois, a program supported Jacob H. Lemm of the Natural History by the late A. L. Eustice and Mrs. Eustice, Survey and in February, 1941, the first aided by Carleton A. Beckhart. bandings of geese in the area were made Cecil S. Williams, Dr. Elizabeth Brown by Hawkins, who recorded the sex and Chase, Arthur S. Hawkins, and Dr. age classes of banded. In Januarj' Gustav A. Swanson have read parts of and Februarv, 1942, and in the winter the manuscript and given much helpful of 1942-43, Dr. William H. Elder con- criticism. Dr. Chase and H. W. tinued the trapping program begun by have reviewed the statistical data. Arlone Hawkins. From the autumn of 1943 to Hanson has contributed much valuable the spring of 1947, the senior author was assistance in the field and in the office. responsible for the research program at Horseshoe Lake. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the studies at Horseshoe Lake, par- ticular emphasis was given to trapping and This Canada goose study is based on banding (Hanson 1949c), often the only data from three primary sources : data techniques whereby such vital statistics as collected at Horseshoe Lake, Alexander average longevity and rate of population

County, Illinois ; surveys by the authors on turnover can be obtained. These study the distribution, habitat, and behavior of techniques yielded data on sex and age the population elsewhere in the Mis- composition of the flock, and, in con- sissippi flyway ; and banding records of nection with bag inspection, on the dif- the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kings- ferential vulnerability of the sex and age ville, Ontario. Data from other sources classes. Sex and age criteria, flock habits have been used as indicated in the text. and flock organization, crippling losses, and, as time permitted, diseases and para- Data From Horseshoe Lake sites of Canada geese were also studied. Most of the data relating to Canada The total numbers of Canada geese geese of the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, trapped and banded at Horseshoe Lake prior to 1940, were obtained by Paul S. by the Illinois Natural History Survey Smith when he was federal Game Manage- are given in table 1 . ment Agent. In 1940 and 1941, Arthur S. Hawkins, then Game Technician of Data From Jack Miner Sanctuary the Illinois Natural History Survey, On a number of occasions, members of collaborated with Smith on an investi- the Illinois Natural History Survey staff

Table 1.—Number of Canada geese trapped at Horseshoe Lake, Alexander County, Illinois, by Illinois Natural History Survey personnel, during the fall and winter seasons of 1940-41 through 1946-47.

Sf.ason of Trapping .March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Cjeese 71

Ti9)

i)7) X H U N ^ BELCHER .ISLANDS \>-^

/Great Whole R.

(20)

(21 [^ ,sV^ ^^ .^<>" &*^ JAMES m) LEGEND Ekwon R. Afta l-Eskimo Point 12-Eastmoin 2-Churchill 13-Old Factory Eostmoin B- 3-York Foctory 14-Ft. George BAY 4-Ft. Severn 15-Greot Wtiale River s.0^ ^ 5-Weenusk 16-Port Harrison ^^ 6-Lake River 17-Povungnituk ,.>!P^ 7- Attawopiskot 18-Gape Smith m 8- 19-Wolstenholme ^ 9-Ft. Albany 20-Cope Henrietta Mario lO- Factory 21 -Cope Jones ll-Rupert House 22-Ogoki

Fi|5. 2.—Map of the Hiuison-James Bay range of Canada geese that winter in the Mississippi River valley. The main breeding range of this goose population is between the Severn and the Albanv rivers. have visited the Jack Miner Bird Sanc- States and Canada, and from missionaries tuary at Kingsville, Ontario, to study and fur traders in the far north, who re- trapping operations. The first traps built ported recoveries made by the natives. at Horseshoe Lake, although set on land, The senior author was responsible for the were modeled after the water trap per- compilation of these original data, which fected by the Miners. In May, 1945, are filed in at the Dominion the authors visited Kingsville to obtain Wildlife Service, Canada Department of background material requisite for com- Mines and Resources. piling and interpreting Miner band-re- JJetween 1915 and the spring of 1944, covery data. The Miner records con- approximate!)' 31,000 Canada geese were sisted of the original reports of band re- banded at the Miner Sanctuary. From coveries from hunters in the United these bandings approximately 3,900 rec- 72 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Table 2.—Number of Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kingsville, Ontario, during the fall trapping seasons, 1927-1944.

Year March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 73

,^to"^ ^^°>-^ ^^ h— i^' ^- %^ ^^',6^^ ,^^' •:X.yiii ^ Winj.sk R.

\IV _Ekwan JAMES ,

BAY

•FT. ALBANY ->-i'-',^- *»" IIV OGOKI- ic:'^ ^-0"

^

Fig. 4.—Map showing flight routes of an aerial reconnaissance of the breeiling grounds of Canada geese south of Hudson Bay and west of James Bay in 1947. Roman numerals designate the various flights discussed in the text.

Recovery records for the first 8 years House, and Fort Albain, and ascending are incomplete, as many of the letters re- Little Partridge Creek via canoe. In porting bands were given to newspapers 1947, he spent from mid-May to Septem- and never returned. In some cases only ber investigating the breeding grounds in- news clippings with incomplete data land from the west coast of Bay James ; he served to preserve early records. used both canoe, fig. 3, and plane for these surveys. The aerial reconnaissance Data From Other Areas in 1947 included stops at Weenusk, Fort Field studies on Canada goose concen- Severn, and York Factory. Approxi- trations away from Horseshoe Lake were matelv 375 aerial photographs were taken begun by the junior author in 1942. Be- on this aerial survey, the itinerary of ginning in 1943, he inventoried by plane which is shown in fig. 4. many of the wintering concentrations from Horseshoe Lake to Louisiana. He de- Data From Questionnaires voted the summer of 1943 to a survey Approximate'y 40 questionnaires re- of the south and east coast areas of James garding goose-breeding grounds and kills Bay, from Moose Factory, Ontario, to were distributed to fur trade posts in the Fort George, , fig. 2. The follow- Canadian Eastern Arctic in 1947, ing summer he made a reconnaissance of througii the courtes\ of the administra- the west coast from Moose Factory to tion of the , Canada Cape Henrietta Maria. Department of Mines and Resources. The senior author made a brief pre- Replies to the questionnaires have been liminary trip to James Bay in the summer summarized and the data included in of 1946, visiting Moose Factory, Rupert this report. 74 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

THE FLYWAY CONCEPT toba, a locality far west of their own migration routes. Three of these geese Over a decade ago, Lincoln (1935) were later reported shot, two of them in presented the concept that the routes their own flyway: one in the vicinity of taken by North American birds in migra- Poplar Branch, North Carolina, in the tion fall into major flyways or lanes of fall of 1934; the other near Lake St. travel. Recoveries of banded birds have John, Quebec, in the fall of 1940. The demonstrated the validity of the flyvvay third was recovered in northern Mani- concept with respect to waterfowl as well toba in the spring of 1934, too soon after as many other kinds of birds. Lincoln release for the record to be significant. named the Atlantic, the Mississippi, the The chief deviations from flyway con- Central, and the Pacific flyways as the sciousness are among young birds that principal ones of North America. have not yet nested (Lincoln 1934). The limits of the waterfowl flyways Williams & Kalmbach (1943) showed vary somewhat with each species and may that the migratory behavior of young change to some degree from year to year, Canada geese when raised in or trans- depending on weather, surface water, and ported to a new area is similar to the be- food conditions. In most species the havior of geese native to that area. populations of one flyway merge al- As pointed out by Lincoln (1935), the most imperceptibly with those of ad- adherence of waterfowl to their ancestral joining flyways. Consequently, the fly- flyways has particular administrative way taken in any one year by an individ- significance in connection with conserving ual bird breeding in an area where two the continental waterfowl resources. "It flyways meet may be due in part to indicates," Lincoln writes, "that if the chance. birds should be exterminated in any one The adherence of ducks and geese to of the four major flyways now defi- their ancestral flyways has been demon- nitely recognized, it would at best be a strated experimentally by removing in- long time before that region could be re- dividuals from one flyway to another. populated, even though birds of the species With relatively few exceptions, the trans- affected should continue over other fly- ported individuals have been recorded ways to return to their great breeding later in their original flyways. One of grounds of the North." the early experiments of this kind with This hypothesis is of special significance ducks was begun in 1918 by Mcllhenny as applied to the management of Canada (1940), who, in co-operation with Dr. geese. Members of a species with a fairly Arthur A. Allen of Cornell University low breeding potential, they would prob- and the United States Bureau of Biolog- ably require several years to regain their ical Survey, shipped ducks and coots numbers in any one flyway after having trapped during the winter in Louisiana, been once seriously depleted. Thus, it

which is in the Mississippi flyway, to is to the hunter's best interests that the points in the Atlantic and Pacific fly- yearly kills in each flyway be kept within ways. Most of the released individuals reasonable bounds. that were later recovered or retrapped were taken in the Mississippi flyway. EASTERN POPULATIONS Perhaps the earliest test of this kind with Canada geese was made by Jack A brief review of the distribution and Miner; complete data on the test were of Canada goose populations found in the files of the Dominion Wild- in eastern North America is relevant to life Service. In the spring of 1934, 25 an understanding of the data later pres- geese trapped at the Miner Sanctuary, ented concerning the Mississippi flyway from flocks that had wintered on the population. Atlantic Coast and were in migration to The Canada geese using the Atlantic their breeding grounds along the east and Mississippi flyways, as defined by coast of James and Hudson bays, were Lincoln (1935), have been recognized as released among a concentration of blue belonging to two distinct major popula- and snow geese at Grant Lake, Mani- tions, based on taxonomy (Todd 1938) :

March, 1950 Hanson- &: Smith: Canada Geese 75

Fig. 5.—Extreme examples of variation in Canada geese of the flock wintering at Horseshoe Lake in southern Illinois. The majority of the geese at Horseshoe Lake approach the dark-colored goose, left above, considered to be Branta canadensis interior; but a few resemble the individual at the right. The latter is more like Branta canadensis canadensis of the North .•\tlantic coast. The goose on the left is a yearling female; that on the right, a yearling male.

and location of the breeding grounds : the Canada geese collected in the eastern North Atlantic population and the Hud- lialf of the United States and proposed son-James hay population. The North a new , Branta canadensis in- Atlantic population constitutes a distinct terior, for the darker colored birds that management unit. The study reported breed and migrate in an area west of the here indicates that the Hudson-James bay range of the nominate subspecies, Branta population is not homogeneous but con- canadensis canadensis. Fig. 5 shows two sists of four subpopulations, each of Canada geese trapped at Horseshoe Lake which constitutes a separate management with that illustrate some of the unit having a fairly distinct range of its differences between these two races. own. These subpopulations are here " Typical canadensis, as represented by designated by terms suggestive of their breeding examples from Newfoundland wintering grounds or migration routes and by winter birds from the South the South Atlantic, the Southeast, the Atlantic coast, is a comparatively light- Mississippi \'alley, and the Eastern Prai- colored bird," according to Todd (1938). rie.* The ranges of these subpopulations "In breeding dress the anterior under are shown in fig. 6. parts are buffy white, and this pale color Todd (1938) noted what he considered runs up on the sides of the lower neck significant plumage dififercnces among (behind the black) to form a conspic- uous light-colored area on the upper • Name and recognition of the Eastern Prairie popula- back. In the new race this is tion as a separate population from Cecil S. Williams of feature the United Stales Fish and Wildlife Service. 1946. wanting. The feather-edgings of the new 76 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

FLYWAY POPULATIONS

ii?g* EASTERN PRAIRIE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SOUTHEAST SOUTH ATLANTIC

Fig. 6.—Map showing roughly the main ranges of the four populations of Canada geese nesting in the Hudson-James bay region. The range of the JVIississippi Valley geese overlaps the range of the Southeast population chiefly in fall; the range of the South Atlantic popula- tion overlaps the range of the Southeast population chiefly in spring. The western limits of the range of the Eastern Prairie population extend farther west than indicated here. The eastern limits of the range of the South Atlantic population probably extend farther east in some areas than indicated. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 77 race are generally darker, while the un- tions pre\ iousl> named: the South Atlan- der-plumage is conspicuously so." tic, the Southeast, the Mississippi Valley, Official recognition was given to the and the Eastern Prairie. Each has its own race interior by its inclusion in the breeding range, migration routes, and Twentieth Supplement to the American wintering areas, figs. 6 and 7. The exist- Ornithologists' Union Check-List of ence of two of the population divisions North American Birds (Wetmore 1945). that nest in the Hudson Bay area, one Appendix B contains a brief summary of wintering along the central Atlantic the latest classification of the Canada Coast and the other in the Mississippi geese of the genus Branta, with notes River valley, was first pointed out by regarding recognition of various kinds Manly Miner (1931). This discovery, by the Indians. based on band recoveries, was due in part to the fortuitous location of the North Atlantic Population Miner Sanctuary, fig. 12, which lies The Canada geese of the North about midway between the migration Atlantic, which breed in Newfoundland, routes of these populations and thus per- eastern Quebec, and Labrador north to mits banding of both populations. the northern limit of trees (Austin 1932), South Atlantic Population.—This are those recognized by Todd (1938) as population is distributed in winter along Branta canadensis canadensis. In the the Atlantic Coast from southern New autumn, they migrate down the Atlantic Jersey to , Back Bay Coast and winter principally from Port (), Pamlico Sound, and Curri- Joli and Port I'Hebert, Nova Scotia tuck Sound, and Hyde and Dare counties, (Tufts 1932. Lloyd 1923), to Martha's North Carolina. Recoveries from geese N'ineyard, Massachusetts, and south prob- migrating through the Miner Sanctuary ably as far as . Skins ex- in the spring, and banded there in that amined by us at the Natural season, reveal that Lake Mattamuskeet Histor)' Museum indicate that some of in Hyde County, North Carolina, has in these geese winter as far south as the recent years become the most important coast of North Carolina, where they wintering area of this population. mingle with South Atlantic geese. A portion of the birds in this popula- Low (1935), in a report on 64 tion stop at the Miner Sanctuary while en Canada geese banded at Cape Cod, route to their breeding grounds, which are Massachusetts, presented convincing evi- on the Belcher and prohabh the Twin dence that the flight of geese along the Islands and in suitable localities along

North Atlantic Coast is a distinct entity. the east coast of James and Hudson bays, Twenty-five of the 26 geese later re- and inland probably to the height of land, covered or recaptured were taken between as suggested by Todd (1938). Band Newfoundland and New Jersey. One recoveries indicate that the breeding was recovered in . range may include a portion of southern , fig. 7. Large numbers of Hudson-James Bay Populations reco\eries reported from a post or small The Canada geese that breed inland area may actually have been taken along from both coasts of Hudson and James extensive areas of the coast. For instance, bays, fig. 2, as far north on the west recoveries plotted as from the Belclicr coast as Churchill, Manitoba, and prob- Islands in fig. 7 also include the recoveries ably as far north on the east coast as from the east coast of Hudson Bay from

Bafifin Island, which lies just north of Cape Jones to Nastapoka Falls ; recoveries Cape ^Volstenholme, conform to the represented as from the Port Harrison description given by Todd (1938) for area actually include the recoveries made Branta canadensis interior. While the along the east coast of Hudson Bay from distribution of geese breeding around the the Kikkcrteluk River area to the Povung-

two bays is more or less continuous, nituk area. available data indicate that this popula- Southeast Population.—The exist- tion is a heterogeneous one and is com- ence and range of the Southeast popula- posed of the four segments or subpopula- tion was revealed when band recoveries Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

EASTERN PRAIRIE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SOUTHEAST SOUTH ATLANTIC POPULATION POPULATION POPULATION POPULATION

228 RECOVERIES OF GEESE BANDED AT HORSESHOE LAKEJLLINOIS

ez'-iiiZl

N March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 79 trom the Miner autumn-banded geese prized hunting trophy as well as an were plotted as to exact locality. These esteemed table bird. Formerly the species recoveries show that the autumn flight nested over much of the upper Mis- of geese through the Kingsville, Ontario, sissippi River valley (McClanahan 1940), area is not homogeneous, but is composed but, subjected to intensive hunting pres- of two populations of geese : the South- sure, it was soon extirpated as a breeding east population and the Mississippi \'alle\ bird from most of this country. Prob- population, tigs. 6 and 7. The Southeast ably the only reason that there are still population breeds inland from the south Canada geese to winter in the Mis- coast of James Bay and winters in the in- sissippi River valley is that much of the land regions of the southeastern states. country adjacent to Hudson and James A detailed discussion of the range of the ba\s in northern Ontario, where most of Southeast population is presented in Ap- tliis migratory population breeds, is rel- pendix A. atively inaccessible to man in summer. Mississippi Valley Population.— The range of the Canada goose popula- Limits of Range tion that winters in the valley of the Mis- The general limits of the range of the sissippi River extends in autumn and Canada goose in the Hudson-James bay winter from western Michigan west area have not been adequately summarized through the eastern portions of those in previous publications. The existence states lying immediately west of the Mis- of only two of the four populations that sissippi River and south in the valley of nest adjacent to these bays has been rec- this river to the coast of the Gulf of ognized previously, and the limits of their Mexico. The main winter range south ranges have not been well defined. For of Cairo, Illinois, does not extend great- these reasons, in addition to presenting ly beyond the immediate valley of the new data on the Canada goose breeding Mississippi River except in Arkansas and range in the region of Hudson and James Louisiana. The Mississippi Valley popu- bays, we review pertinent references in

lation, which is gi\en primary considera- the literature. tion in this paper, breeds inland from Until the race Braiita auiadtnixis in- the west coast of James Bay and the terior was recognized by the American south coast of Hudson Bay, figs. 6 and 7. Ornithologists' Union (Wetmore 1945), Eastern Prairie Population.—The most of the writers who mentioned the eastern range limits of the Eastern Prairie Canada goose either made no distinction population seemingly merge with the between the two races of Branta cana- western range limits of the Mississippi densis, or they referred to birds of both \'alley population on the breeding grounds races as belonging to the race canadensis. in the muskeg between Fort Severn and References in the literature prior to 1945 Fort York and on the wintering grounds to either of these races should be inter- in western Louisiana, figs. 6 and 7. The preted in the light of the recent decision eastern range limits of the Eastern Prairie by the A.O.U. geese in migration are apparently in cen- The sequence of the following citations

tral parts of ^Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, is in general according to the geographic

Arkansas, and Louisiana. We do not position of the localities concerned : from have the data at hand to discuss the north to south on the west side of the western limits of the range of this popu- bays and from south to north on the east lation, nor are the\- of concern in this side. paper. The northern limit of the breeding range of Branta canadensis interior west HUDSON-JAMES BAY of Hudson Bay coincides roughly with BREEDING RANGE the northern limit of trees as delineated by the distribution of black spruce and white The Canada goose has long been a staple spruce, fig. 8. Taverner & Sutton (1934) food item for the natives of North Ameri- found that at Churchill, Manitoba, which

ca. To the white man in the United is "precisely at the limit of tree growth,

States and Canada, it has been a highly where the spruce forest dies out on the 80 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 8.—Map showing subsurface geological structures south and west of Hudson and James bays. Approximate limit of trees from official Canadian map. The principal nesting range of the Mississippi Valley Canada goose population lies within the shaded area. arctic tundra and both types of biological densis "breeds in considerable numbers association are in contact," the goose they along the Churchill River." referred to as Branta canadensis cana- Grinnell & Palmer (1941) reported densis "is a common transient, which that "birds [Branta canadensis^ were seen breeds sparingly in the vicinity." and heard at intervals from June 6 on" in Preble (1902) recorded that when he the vicinity of Churchill. was in the region west of James Bay and Allen (1945) recorded nests and nest- Hudson Bay considerable numbers of ing pairs of Branta canadensis near Branta canadensis were reported as nest- Churchill. ". ing on an island in Lake . He Traverner (1931) wrote: . . . it saw or had reliable reports of young [Branta canadensis candensis] is the geese along the Fox, the Churchill, and common breeding goose of James and other rivers of the region. Hudson bays for most of the east coast Bell (1880) stated that Jnser cana- and the west side at least as far as •

March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Canada Geese 81

Churchill, probably stopping somewhere south than Kesagami Lake, Latitude 50° south of cape Eskimo where it appears 30'" (letter to Jack Miner from B. C. to be replaced by leucopareia." From Lamble, August 5, 1926). the barren grounds north of Churchill, In regard to the status in other parts the lesser Canada goose, Branta leuco- of Ontario of the bird they regarded as pareia leucopareia is the common repre- Branta canadensis canadensis, Baillie & sentative of the genus Braiila.* Harrington (1937) stated: "Recent maps Herring (1937) examined parts of 10 indicate, perhaps correctly, that this bird individuals, mainly from Baker Lake, a may breed in the whole of northern On- locality 385 miles nearly due north of tario, north of Lake Superior and the Churchill, which he assigned to the race southern end of James Bay. leucopareia. "The several instances of this bird A female goose taken May 20, 1937, nesting in southern and central Ontario at Eskimo Point, on the coast of Hudson almost undoubtedly concern injured or Bav north of Churchill, appeared to semi-domesticated individuals." Shortt & Peters (1942) "to be of the Bell (1883), who was undoubtedly in- form leucopareia." timately familiar with most of the prov- Specimens taken along the Thelon ince of Ontario, stated that "between

River, which is in the districts of Mac- the and James' Bay, only kenzie and Keewatin, Northwest Terri- chance pairs lag behind in their north- tories, were "referred by P. A. Taverner ward flight to hatch their broods." to B. c. leucopareia" (Clarke 1940). Inland from many parts of the east There are numerous references in the coast of Hudson and James bays, and on literature regarding the occurrence of the the islands along the coast and to the Canada goose south of Hudson Bay and north, suitable habitat for nesting Canada west of James Bay. Richardson (1851) geese is less extensive than inland from quoted a report of George Barnston, an the west coast. Consequently, nesting on officer of the Hudson's Bay Company at the east side of the bays is relatively con- "Martin's Falls," a post on the Albany centrated although, in the interior of River 200 miles inland from James Bay, northern Quebec (Ungava), more widely in which mention is made of "geese and scattered nesting is found. ducks hatching" in the vicinity. The late James Watt, former manager Bell (1887), describing his exploration of the Hudson's Bay Company post at of the , wrote: "The Rupert House, wrote the junior author Canada goose breeds in considerable num- (letter of December 25, 1943) that bers in the open swamps behind the "While travelling in the interior [south wooded borders of the lower section of and east of James Bay] surveying the river, and the young birds, ready to lands and counting lodges I have seen as fly, were congregating in flocks, all along many as 15 to 20 nesting [Canada] geese the lower stretch, in the end of August in a day's travel— all with broods of young and the beginning of September." geese, and .... taking into consideration Baillie & Harrington (1937) wrote: the immense and number of lakes "The Canada Goose breeds fairly com- and inland waterways, the number of monly along the coasts of James and geese that nest inland must be large." Hudson bays, between Moose river and A. P. Low (1896) wrote: The Canada Churchill." goose "breeds in marshes throughout the

South of James Bay the principal breed- northern interior [of Quebec], and is ing range of the Canada goose may not seen along the rivers with young broods extend more than 60 miles inland from about July 1st; several large the coast. In 1926, a mining party led broods seen on Burnt Lakes, Romaine by B. C. Lamble explored the country River ; not common at Lake Mistassini, between Timmins, Ontario, and James but abundant on East Main River— Bay. During the trip they "saw many especially on lower part, where the river broods of Canada geese, but none farther is cut out of clays, with good bottom- lands; breeds in large numbers on the • See Appendix B for discussion of recent revision by Hellmayr & Conover (1948). islands of James Bay." 82 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. .3

In reply to the questionnaire sent out dence, but I should think they nest in 1947, Roy Jefferies, Post Manager at throughout the interior between Hudson Eastmain for the Hudson's Bay Com- and Ungava bays." pany, in collaboration with an Indian, The Reverend H. S. Shepherd, mis- stated that Canada geese nested in a sionary at Port Harrison, Quebec, for 2 swamp about 10 miles south of East- years, stated in the questionnaire sent out main. in 1947 that scattered nesting of Canada

It is common knowledge in the James geese is found over a large area of the Bay area that considerable concentrations interior inland from Port Harrison, but of nesting geese are found on the Twin that the total number is not great. Islands in James Bay, particularly the Low (1902) found that, in the country South Twin, and on the about 12 miles south of the Digges in Hudson Bay, fig. 2. Nesting pairs are Islands,* "The many small ponds and also found on and a swamps that occur between the boulder number of smaller islands along the east ridges are favorite breeding places for coast of James Bay. grey geese." Farther south, about 30 In the summer of 1947, Donald F. miles north of the Povungnituk River, Coates and Donald B. Coombs (personal Low also found large numbers of Canada communication), observers for the Geodet- geese about 10 miles inland from the ic Service of Canada, visited the follow- mouth of the Sorehead River. ing islands in James Bay : North Bear, In the Povungnituk area, W. A. Tol- Bear, South Bear, Bare, Grey Goose, boom, a post manager, reported by

Walter, North Twin, Weston, and Charl- questionnaire in 1947 that nesting is well ton. They found Canada geese on only scattered over a wide area and that three of these islands. On Grey Goose, generally speaking all nests are found on their guide shot two geese but they found islands, on lakes or shores of lakes, seldom little evidence of breeding pairs ; on Wes- on rivers, and very seldom on coastal ton, they saw about 20 pairs, in one islands. instance 6 adults and 21 goslings to- Manning's surmise regarding goose

gether on one pond ; and on Salt Lake, nesting over the is at the northern tip of Charlton, they ob- substantiated by Rousseau's ( 1948) finding

served 1 pair and 6 goslings. that the Canada goose is one of the few Bell (1883) found that Canada geese prevalent forms of wildlife between "breed on the islands along the east Povungnituk and Payne Bay post on coast of Hudson's Bay it is said . that very few Canada geese breed north- A few individuals of the Canada goose ward of Hudson's Strait." nest on the arctic islands north of the Manning (1946) mentioned "a con- Canadian mainland. Sutton (1932) re- siderable number of geese in the Mistake ported that Eskimos have occasionally Bay area at the end of July." (Mistake found nests of Branta canadensis cana- Bay is between Povungnituk and Port densis on Southampton Island. Harrison, fig. 2.) He "saw 10 or 15 Shortt & Peters (1942) reported an of them, and all belonged to the large immature "specimen referable to B. form." He identified them as Branta canadensis canadensis" taken August 17, canadensis interior. 1938, at Lake Harbour, southern Baffin In a recent letter (to the senior author, Island. April 11, 1947), T. H. Manning states Soper (1946) reported that Branta that he believes the chief breeding ground canadensis canadensis breeds on Baffin

of Canada geese in this area is between Island along the southern coast of Foxe Cape Dufferin (near Port Harrison) Peninsula, and from at least Amadjuak

and the Cape Smith Range. "I do not . . . Bay to Gabriel Strait along the coast of think that they often nest on the coastal . islands. They may nest on the King Mississippi Valley Population.— George and Sleeper Islands, but the The limits of the breeding range of each Ottawa Islands are high, rocky and bar- * Small islands lying off the extreme tip of Ungava, ren, and unsuitable. I have no direct evi- northern Quebec, March. 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Gekse 83 of the four populations of Branta cana- pendent upon the native Indians. When densis interior around Hudson and James interviewed through interpreters, the bays have been deduced from band re- Indians are usually able to furnish the coveries coupled with a knowledge of exact date and place of each band re- the suitable nesting country, Hgs. 6 and 7. covery. However, if only the name of In ascertaining the true distribution of tlie post is known at which a band is se- each of these populations, we were for- cured, the location of the recovery can tunate that the Miner banding records, be approximated, as usually the native as well as the Horseshoe Lake records, groups from the various fur trade posts, could be analyzed. An interpretation of including even individual families, use either the Horseshoe Lake records or the the same liunting grounds year after year. Miner records alone would undoubtedly The approximate boundaries of the hunt- have led to erroneous conclusions, wjiere- ing grounds of the various bands of as the two sets of data considered to- Indians on the west and south coasts of gether supplemented each other. James Bay is shown in fig. 9, ^\•hich is Band-recovery data from the Hudson- copied from a portion of a map prepared James bay area are in large measure de- by the Reverend John M. Cooper to ac-

LEGEND

LIMITS OF HUNTING TERRITORIES

O TRADING POST AND INDIAN BAND

Fig. 9.—Map showing limits uf the trapping and hunting grounds of the various bands of Cree Indians west and south of Hudson and James bays. (After Cooper 1933.) 84 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 85

compan\- his unpublished report to the eastern portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Indian Affairs Branch in Ottawa. Father Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana (Delta),

Cooper's map is based on his field studies western Kentucky, western Tennessee, of 1927, 1932, and 1933 in the vicinity and western Mississippi. The barren of James Bay. grounds of Cape Henrietta Maria and According to Father Cooper, the the coastal marshes probably do not con- boundary lines of hunting territories tain breeding birds, but nesting occurs generally are represented by natural land- on Akimiski Island, figs. 2 and 30, which marks, such as heights of land, chains of lies in James Bay a few miles east of the lakes, or watersheds. Hunting rights to mouth of the Attawapiskat River. each foot of land are owned by some Of the tremendous area of muskeg Indian and are acquired only through in- outlined above, only a relatively small por- heritance or donation. Territory is tion is either suitable for, or attractive to, generally inherited in the male line and nesting geese. Field observations, as well most family territories have been in the as band recoveries, indicate that the main same family line for generations. As to breeding range of Branta canadensis in- the accuracy of these boundaries, Father terior south of Hudson Bay and west of

Cooper writes : "These limits are and can James Bay is within an enormous area be only appro.ximate as we have not ade- of muskeg, the limits of which coincide quate and detailed maps based on surveys roughly with the area underlaid with of the whole area The Moose sedimentary rocks of the Paleozoic era, Indian grounds and to a certain extent fig. 8. These rocks, of the , the Rupert House grounds are plotted as , and periods, are of a generation ago. Some changes covered by a mantle of glacial drift over through inheritance and through the which the flat muskeg is superimposed. dying out of certain families, particularly According to Bell (1887), "The drift around Lake Kesagami,' have occurred, (principally boulder-clay) which over- but in the main the present Indian spreads the palaeozoic basin westward of families still hunt each where the father James' Bay appears to be a continuous and grandfathers hunted." sheet varying probably between thirty and Band recoveries from the Canadian ninety feet as far as can be judged by breeding grounds of geese banded at the sections along the rivers." Horseshoe Lake are summarized in table Ells (1912) believes that fairly uni- 3. These recoveries, important in re- form timber and land conditions prevail vealing the location and extent of the concentrically from James Bay except for breeding range of most of the Mississippi minor variations, depending on primary Valley geese, do not, however, take into and secondary drainage. account geese that nest in the United States, where several efforts to establish Thus, if we have a 5 ft. muskeg at a distance of thirty miles south of breeding flocks on federal, state, and James Bay, I would look for a similar condition private refuges are making increasingly East and West along a belt roughly parallel important contributions to the Mississippi with the shores of the Bay This as- Valley population. sumption I have based on the fundamental Most of the Horseshoe Lake bands principle that the country adjacent to James recovered in Canada were taken in the Bay on the South and West side is grad- muskeg country lying inland from the ually being elevated As we leave coasts of James and Hudson bays between the shores of James Bay, the depth of the the Kinoje* and Severn River watersheds, muskeg should gradually increase .... Eight miles to the west of Factory fig. 30. Band recoveries indicate that Moose the depth of moss and muck is 2 ft. to 3 during the breeding season this enormous ft.; 10 miles further south the depth is 2 ft. section of muskeg country, roughly tri- to 4 ft. ; and 40 miles, 4i/i to 5 ft. ; at 60-80 angular in outline, contains the bulk of miles, 5yz to 6 ft.; and at 90 miles the geese that winter in southern the Ontario, depth is 6 to 8 feet. Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Evidence that the main breeding • A small river that flows into James Bay 8 miles south of the Albany River. grounds of the Mississippi Valley Canada Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. .1

SCALE IN MILES

50 100 200

NUMBERS REFER TO THE SURVEYING PARTIES

Fig.* 10.—Map showing districts explored by surveying parties in northern Ontario in 1900 (from Anonymous 1901). None of the surveying parties reported nesting Canada geese in the districts surveyed.

geese probably do not lie much beyond reported nesting in several of the districts, the coastal strip of country that is under- no nesting Canada geese were noted. laid with sedimentary rock, and are not Observations made by Hess (1943) in the adjoining rocky and rugged Cana- during a plane flight shed additional light dian shield, is found in the records of 10 on the occurrence of Canada geese south- surveying parties. In the summer and west from James Bay. His description autumn of 1900, surveys and explora- of the muskeg in that sector could apply tions were made of the natural resources to a large portion of the muskeg over the and characteristics of part of northern Paleozoic Basin. Ontario by the Ontario Department of By the time we were in McCausland Crown Lands (Anonymous 1901). The Township, the country had changed from subject of the survey was a "comparatively the poplar and jackpine regeneration on unknown part of the District of Nipissing, the slopes around the Mattagami River to bounded on the north by the Great Mus- a vast flat area of muskeg, exactly similar keg, adjoining the southern shore of to the country around James Bay. (At this James' Bay." The country, beginning point, we were about 100 miles from the this area, except for about 80 miles inland from James Bay, Bay.) Throughout a belt of fair-sized spruce along the rivers was surveyed by districts, an exploring and larger streams and the bigger lakes, party being assigned to each of 10 dis- there was no tree growth except dwarf tricts. The districts that have relation widely-spaced tamaracks and the odd bunch to this study are shown in fig. 10. Each of black spruce trees. The remainder of exploring party kept notes on the game the area was a greyish yellowish green conditions in its respective district, and, blanket of moss interspersed in large patches although a number of kinds of ducks were by ripple-like depressions filled with water. March. 1950 Hanson ^^ Smith: Canada Cii-Esi-: 87 giving a striking similarity to waves of willow and in the far distance the larger moss and water. spruce trees along the Missinaibi River stood out sharply above the scrub larch and Hess observed only four geese in the muskeg. above. After flying a con- area described Other Populations.—From the 5.747 siderable, but unstated, distance farther, Canada geese banded at Horseshoe Lake, five lakes, on one he sighted a chain of only 4 bands have been recovered from

flocks of geese ; "\oung of which were two the country adjacent to Hudson Bay appeared to be present." Hess reported northwest of Fort Severn, fig. 30. Two these lakes as being shallow. of these bands were from geese killed in early spring south of ^'ork Factory, ap- The shores to about 100 feet from the parently in the vicinity of their breeding water are ringed by black spruce trees about .^0 feet high which shade off a short distance grounds. Of the more than 16,000 from the lake into the muskeg. The im- Canada geese banded at the Miner Sanc- mediate shore was covered bv alder and tuary in the autumn, none has been re-

Fi<. 11.—Location of band recoveries from Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary in the autumn, 1915—1944, and reported recovered south of James Bay in Canada. Recoveries reported from fur-trade posts on the coasts of Hudson and James bays are indicated in fig. 7. Banding records indicate that two Canada goose populations, the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast, stop at the Miner Sanctuary in the autumn. Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 88 Illinois Natural History Survey

the Eastern Prairie population, as recently proposed by Cecil S. Williams of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

It is apparent from the distribution of the band recoveries shown in figs. 14—21 that two distinct populations of geese are banded at the Miner Sanctuary in

the autumn : one population that migrates southwest to winter in the Mississippi River valley; the other, designated as the Southeast population, fig. 6, that crosses the Appalachian Mountains and winters in the inland areas of the South Atlantic states. From the data at hand we can only speculate on the approximate line of demarcation between these two popula- tions on the breeding grounds. Although band recoveries indicate that the breeding grounds of the Mississippi flyway popula- tion extend as far south as the Kinoje River, the mouth of which lies 8 miles south of the mouth of the Albany River, between the Kinoje River and the Moose River country there may be a zone of overlap in which is found a mixed popula- Fig. 12.—Location of band recoveries from Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kingsville, Ontario, in the spring of years prior to 1934 and reported recovered in the United States in the autumn and winter of 193 5-36 and (one from a goose found dead) in the spring of 1936.

ported shot north of Lake River, figs. 2 and 7. Hence, it seems probable that most of the muskeg country between Fort Severn and Churchill is occupied by a population of geese that by-pass both the Miner and Horseshoe Lake refuges on their migration to wintering quarters. Miner bands recovered in Canada south of James Bay are indicated in fig. 11. Since few geese banded either at Horse- shoe Lake or the Miner Sanctuary have been reported from western Louisiana and eastern Texas, or from any point at an appreciable distance west of the Mis-

sissippi River, figs. 12—21, it appears that the western Louisiana flocks, and perhaps a few concentrations in central Missouri, are derived from the breeding grounds between Fort Severn and Churchill. (Fig. Fig. 13.—Location of band recoveries from 12 shows recoveries of geese banded in Canada geese banded at the Horseshoe Lake the spring; figs. 13-21 show recoveries Game Refuge and reported recovered in the of geese banded in the fall and winter.) United States and southern Ontario, 1940- The geese that breed in this part of 1945. (Missouri recoveries near Horseshoe Canada should probably be included with Lake.) March, 1950 Hanson t^- Smith: Canada Geese 89

indicate that the breeding grounds of the flocks that winter along the Atlantic Coast from Maryland to North Carolina, fig. 12, include certain islands in James and Hudson bays (see pages 81-82) and areas inland from the east coast of these bays from about Rupert House to southern Baffin Island, fig. 7. The large number of band recoveries from the Port Harrison region on the east coast of Hudson Bay, despite low nesting densities reported for that area, may be due in part to the influ.x of geese in late summer into this lake country, which lies north of the tree line. Accord- ing to the Re\erend H. S. Shepiierd, large numbers of Canada geese fly in from the north to the barren-ground lakes for the purpose of moulting. Band re- coveries suggest that there may also be an influx of geese that have flown in from

YEAH OF RECOVERY considerably south of Port Harrison. No * 1925 confirmation of this influx was received * I^ HOLLOW SYMBOLS SHOW LOCALITY IS DOueiFUL IMS in the questionnaire distributed in the re- T 1929 gion; however, A. Lunan of the Hudson's

Fig. 14.—Location of band recoveries from Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary during the autumn, 1925-1929, and reported recovered in the United States during the season of banding. tion of geese, some of which winter in the Mississippi River valley and others that winter in the inland portions of the South Atlantic states. The principal breeding range of the Southeast population lies inland from the south coast of James Bay. The data available at present suggest that it in- cludes areas drained by the ]\Ioose River, as well as suitable muskeg lying between the Moose and Nottaway rivers, and perhaps areas lying inland from the east coast for an indeterminate distance north, fig. 6. Banding records from the Miner Sanctuary show that many of the autumn- banded geese are taken in the spring in the country around the south end of YEAH OF RECOVERY James Bay, fig. 7, and many are taken in A 1930 " t^l HOLLOW SYMBOLS SHOW '932 LOCALITY IS OOUeTFUL the autumn in the inland portions of 1933 Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 1934 lina, , , and the Gulf Fig. 15.—Location of band recoveries from 1-1—21 Coast of Florida, figs. (also see Canada geese banded at the Jacli Miner Bird Appendix A). Sanctuary during the autumn, 1930-1934, and Recoveries from geese banded at the reported recovered in the United States during Miner Sanctuary in the spring clearly the season of banding. 90 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

YEAR OF RECOVERr A 1935 • 1936 HOtLOW SYMBOLS SHOW - 1^37 LOCALITY IS DOUBTFUL

Fig. 16.—Location of band recoveries from Fig 18.—Location of band recoveries from Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary during the autumn, 1935-1939, and Sanctuary during the autumn, 1924 or before, reported recovered in the United States during and reported recovered in the United States the season of banding. during 1925-1929.

YEAR Of RECOVERY 1930 '"' HOLLOW SYMBOLS SHOW LOCALITY IS DOUBTFUL jlll 1934

Fig. 17—Location of band recoveries from Fig. 19.—Location of band recoveries from Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary during the autumn, 1940-1944, and Sanctuary during the autumn, 1929 or before, reported recovered in the United States during and reported recovered in the United States the season of banding. during 1930-1934. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 91

ward movements by geese of the South- east population along the east coast of the bays for the purpose of feeding on berries; actual intermingling of birds from the different flyways. Trapping at the Miner Sanctuary has shown that some of the Horseshoe Lake geese stop at the Sanc- tuary in the spring, along with the flight of South Atlantic geese. Of 33 Canada geese trapped and banded at Horseshoe Lake and retrapped at the Miner Sanc- tuary, 1943-1945, 11 were retrapped in the spring. The disposition of some Horse- shoe Lake geese to follow the Soutli Atlan- tic geese to the east coast of Hudson Bay would not be surprising. Recovery of F-marked (autumn banded) birds in the Port Harrison district might be partially explained by the banding of South Atlan- tic geese at the Miner Sanctuary in the autumn. A certain amount of overlap rEAR or RECOVERY in migration routes, with the resultant 4 )935 '936 HOLLOW SYMBOLS SHOW intermixing at the Miner Sanctuary of 1937 LOCAUTY IS DOUBTFUL I93B 1939 South Atlantic geese with Southeast and Mississippi flyway birds, is no less to be Fig. 20.—Location of band recoveries from Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary during the autumn, 1934 or before, and reported recovered in the United States during 1935-1939.

Bay Company, who was stationed a num- ber of years at Port Harrison, recently stated (personal conversation, August, 1949) that about 75 per cent of the geese killed by the Eskimos in that area were moulting geese that came into the area in early June from the south and not birds that nested locally. His observations thus help to substantiate a relationship that could only be surmised from band re- coveries. The Eskimos in the vicinity of Port Harrison, finding other kinds of game less easily obtainable in summer, turn to the inland lakes, where apparently they secure a plentiful supph- of flightless geese. Sixteen recoveries of Canada geese banded at Horseshoe Lake, fig. 30, and an important percentage of the total re- TEAR OF RECOVERY coveries of geese banded at the Miner • 1940 • 1941 HOLLOW STMBOLS SHOW Sanctuary in the autumn, fig. 7, have been 943 LOCALITT 1$ DOUBTFUL 1944 made in the Port Harrison district. One or more of a number of possibilities may Fig. 21.—Location of band recoveries from explain these inconsistencies in the re- Canada geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird covery pattern : flights by small groups of Sanctuary during the autumn, 1939 or before, Mississippi flyway geese across James and reported recovered in the United States and Hudson bays in late summer; north- during 1940-1944. 92 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 expected in the autumn than in the well-drained areas, more or less timbered, spring of the year. but notable for the numbers of large, widely scattered lakes without islands, West Coast Muskeg Types fig. 24. Aerial reconnaissance flights in the Type 4. Pothole muskeg, characterized region west of James Bay and south of by a myriad of ponds and small lakes, Hudson Bay, fig. 4, revealed that the mus- principally from 5 to 30 acres in size and keg in the breeding range of Mississippi usually possessing one or more islands. Valley Canada geese differs considerably in These water areas are often so closely various sectors in the proportions of tim- grouped that only small patches or narrow ber and water it supports. For the sake strips of land separate one from the other, of convenience the muskeg can be divided figs. 25 and 26. into five main types. It must be remem- Type 5. "Smallpox" muskeg, that is, bered, however, that gradations between muskeg in which sphagnum predominates, all types exist. the country being more or less a continuous Type 1. M^ell-timbered muskeg, with sphagnum bog or series of small bogs only a few ponds or small, widely scattered in the late stages of filling in so that it lakes, fig. 22. can scarcely be classified as land or water, Type 2. Open muskeg, with treeless or figs. 27 and 28. Fairly extensive areas of lightly timbered areas of stunted tama- this kind occur throughout the Paleozoic rack, alternating with small blocks or ex- Basin and in smaller patches within most tensive stands of black spruce, fig. 23. areas of the above four types of muskeg. Type 3. Lake-land viuskeg, relatively Aerial observations revealed that the

Fig. 22.—Type 1 or well-timbered muskeg. The muslceg lying adjacent to the southern half of the west coast of James Bay is fairly well wooded with black spruce and tamarack. Alter- nating with the wooded tracts are extensive areas covered with a heavy growth of willow. Ponds and lakes are relatively few in number in this area. March, 1950 Hanson- & Smith: Canada Geese 93

Fig. 23.—Type 2 or open muskeg. The dark bands across the lower half of this illustration represent stands of black spruce; the lighter colored trees are tamaracks. The spruces are con- fined mainly to better drained sites and to hummocks of mosses and lichens. The tamarack occurs both as light stands on the better drained sites and as scattered, stunted individuals on open sedge areas. In this type of muskeg, the treeless or lightly timbered areas of stunted tamarack alternate with small blocks or extensive stands of black spruce.

Fig. 24.—Type 3 or lake-land muskeg. Shown here is an area just north of the Albany River (flight I, fig. 4) about 45 miles inland from the coast of James Bay, 94 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 25.— lype 4 or pothole muskeg. This photograph was taken a few miles north of the Albany River on flight IV, fig. 4.

Fig. 26.—Type 4 or pothole muskeg about 40 miles north of the Moose River and about 30 miles inland from the shore of James Bay. I March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 95

muskeg for the first 20 to 25 miles inland River, wiiich lies 15 to 30 miles north of from the coast of James Bay in the Albany- the Albany; types 2 and 3 most of the River country, fig. 4, I and III, exclusive way between the Atikameg and Kapiskau of coastal marshes, is chiefly type 1. The rivers, north to the Attawapiskat River, muskeg for the next 35 to 40 miles, or and for an additional 10 to 15 miles about to the longitude of Creek beyond. Midway between the Attawapis- Island in the Albany River, is characteris- kat and Ekwan rivers the muskeg varies tically type 4. Alost prevalent in the between types 4 and 5. Near the Ekwan country between Ogoki and points 50 to River, the country appears to be better 60 miles inland from James Bay, fig. 4, drained and timbered, and the muskeg of I, are types 2 and 3. From Ogoki, on type 1. From the Kkwan Ri\er north- the Albany River, to a point northwest on ward, muskeg types 2 and 3 again prevail, the Attawapiskat River, fig. 4, II, muskeg but near the Sutton River, which enters types 2 and 3 characterize the countr\. Hudson Hay from the southwest at a From this point on the Attawapiskat point 64 miles west of Cape Henrietta River to Fort Albany, fig. 4, III, the Maria, the muskeg is poorly drained and kinds and the distribution of the muskeg well supplied with lakes of all sizes. observed are similar, but in reverse se- From the Sutton River country to Wee- quence to those seen on flight I, fig. 4. nusk the density of the stands of black On flight IV, fig. 4, between the spruce decreases and the amount of (Ua- Albany River and Weenusk, the follow- doniu lichen as ground cover steadily in-

ing sequence of muskeg types was found creases ; in other respects the muskeg ob-

to prevail. Type 4 is dominant between served in this part of the flight seems to be the Albany River and the Atikameg either t\"pe 3 or type 5.

1-ig. 27.— lype •> or "smallpox" muskeg, aliout 15 miles nortli ut ihc Aitav\.i|.i>kac Klvcr (flight IV, fig. 4). 96 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 28.—Type 5 or "smallpox" muskeg, a vertical aerial view. Small bogs, such as these, in various stages of filling in with sphagnum moss, occupy considerable areas of the muskeg country west of James Bay. They contribute little or nothing to waterfowl production.

Between Weenusk and Fort Severn, recovery data given in table 3, the distri- fig. 4, VIII, muskeg types 4 and 5 are bution of the various muskeg types, their most common. However, the lakes in this relation to the configuration of the streams section of the muskeg, some of which are and rivers, and the literature, the exist- large, do not appear to offer optimum ence and location of major production habitat for nesting pairs of geese, as most centers, rather than continuous nesting of them lack islands. The country be- areas, have been deduced. Most of these tween Fort Severn and York Factory, fig. areas are between two adjacent or con- 4, VII, appears to be on the whole rela- verging rivers, similar to the river shown tively poor breeding range. In general, in fig. 29, but in type 4 muskeg. the muskeg alternates chiefly between Most band recoveries and sight observa- types 3, 4, and 5. tions of geese can be correlated with the distribution of pothole muskeg, type 4. West Coast Production Centers In the majority of areas in which geese On the aerial flights outlined in fig. 4, were observed, water areas occupied at approximately 217 C anada geese, adults least 25 per cent of the surface. This and goslings combined, were observed. muskeg type occupies slight but extensive From these sight observations, from band depressions or troughs in the Paleozoic : )

March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 97

Basin, which probably either ( 1 ) origi- seems to be a relatively unimportant one. nated as depressions in the surface of the The localities mentioned above are just glacial drift that mantles the region or within the western limits of the Paleozoic (2) developed in connection with deposits Basin, figs. 2 and 8. In 1947, the 16 accumulated during the uplift of the hunters in the Ogoki Indian band were region, probably at an irregular rate, questioned regarding the presence of following its submergence during glacia- breeding pairs within their trapping terri- tion. These basins now serve as origins tories. Only a few of the hunters had of many small streams, while the larger knowledge of Canada geese nesting in the rivers, in seeking the lowest ground general region north of Ogoki, and they when cutting their channels, have tended agreed that breeding pairs were scarce in to converge toward each other in the that sector. A single goose v.as sighted in region of these basins. Consequently, the this area on flight II, Hg. 4. present-day configuration of the drainage Production Center B. Between the Atik- pattern is a clue to the location of pothole ameg and Albany rivers, from a distance muskeg and in turn of production centers of about 25 miles inland from the coast of for Canada geese. James Bay westward to about longitude Available information indicates the 82° 50' or the longitude of Fishing Creek following production centers, iig. 30, for Island in the Albany River. Although the Canada geese that use the Mississippi the country between the Albany River and flyway the Stooping River, a tributary to the Production Center A. Between the Al- south, was not flown over directly, as

bany and Attawapiskat rivers in the re- much of it as could be seen from the gion of Ogoki and Martin Fall, about plane appeared to be similiar to the coun- 200 miles from the coast of James Bay. try' between the Albany and the Atika- Barnston's early report (Richardson 1851 meg and equalU' attractive to nesting and band recoveries point to the presence geese; probably it should be included as of this production center, although it part of the production center. The area m

.m^

Fig. 29.—The Attawapiskat River, at a point 30 miles inland from the coast of James Bay. Most of the muskeg shown in this photograph is classified as type 2 or open. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

H U D S N BAY

LEGEND

RECOVERIES (NOT LISTED IN TABLE 3) OUTER LIMIT OF MAIN BREEDING RANGE PRODUCTION CENTERS ^

SCALE or MILES

Fig. 30.—Location of production centers, limits of the main range of the Mississippi Valley geese, and located recoveries in Canada, 1941-1947, of Canada geese banded at the Horse- shoe Lake Game Refuge. Within the main breeding range 217 band recoveries have been made. (Not shovpn are one recovery from Warren, Manitoba, and one from McLean, Saskatchewan.) March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 99

Fig. 31.—View from the west coast of James Bay about 38 miles south of Lake River. The siuuous tracts of spruce occupy old beach ridges near the coast ; the intervening areas are marsh. Many bands were recovered from Canada geese near this part of the coast.

observed, which is characteristically type Ri\er district more than 60 miles west of 4 or pothole muskeg, contained the only James Bay. Substantiating our own find- geese seen on the east and west flights ing in the Albany River district, the In- between Fort Albany and Ogoki. On the dians report that most of the geese breed return flight, III, tig. 4, 55 adults and 19 within 70 miles of the coast, or not much goslings were observed. These observa- farther west than 30 miles below the tions substantiate the location of produc- juncture of the Albany and Chipie rivers. tion center B up the Albany River, in- Production Center C. Between the dicated earlier by band recoveries, table 3. Attawapiskat and Ekwan rivers at a Field observations and information ob- distance of between 40 and 50 miles in- tained from Indian hunters indicate that land from the coast of James Bay. This few if any geese nest within 10 miles of area was flown over on northward flight the shore of James Bay. The Indians IV, fig. 4, from the Albany River to report that very few geese breed in the Weenusk. Band recoveries and aerial muskeg close to the bay. Most band re- observations indicate that this area is a coveries, table 3, from the 9-mile coastal relatively unimportant production center. zone probably represent migrating geese While its extent east and west can only shot early in the spring, or wandering, be surmised from band recoveries, aerial nonbreeding geese. observations indicate that its north and Despite the fact that some of the In- south axis is short, approximately 12 dians from the coastal posts trap and hunt miles. Taken as a whole, the potholes and far inland, they have made only a few lakes between the Attawapiskat and recoveries of goose bands in the Albany Ekwan rivers are in a much more ad- 100 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 vanced state of filling in than are those this production center. Map and band between the Atikameg and Stooping rivers recovery data and the size of the kills and few contain islands. Consequently, made by the Weenusk Indians indicate they are less attractive to nesting geese. that this production center is second in On flight IV, fig. 4, three geese were ob- importance only to the one between the served in this production center, and Atikameg and the Albany or Stooping northwest of this center, about 11 miles rivers. south of the Sutton River, a single goose There is probably some scattered nest- was noted. ing over a large area south of Weenusk. Production Center D. Between the At- On flight IV, fig. 4, two flocks, one of 21 tawapiskat and Ekwan rivers, from 90 to geese and another of 6 with goslings, were 100 miles inland from the coast of James sighted about 33 miles south of the Winisk Bay. A production center in this area River at a point about 25 miles from the is suggested by three recoveries, table 3, coast of Hudson Bay. On flight VIII, and some convergence by the two rivers fig. 4, between Fort Severn and Weenusk, mentioned, as well as by the drainage pat- 15 Canada geese were observed from the tern of the small streams in this area. air. However, the lakes flown over on Production Center E. South of the flight VIII did not appear to offer op- barren grounds of Cape Henrietta Maria; timum habitat for nesting pairs, as they from about the latitude of Lake River generally lacked islands. The Weenusk south to the Swan River and at indeter- Indians say that they find breeding pairs minate distances inland from the coast of nesting closer to the coast in early, mild James Bay. The large numbers of re- springs than in late, cold springs. coveries made along the coast in this area, Production Center G. Severn River fig. 31, and the multitude of small, short country. One or perhaps several pro- rivers that drain inland areas in this sec- duction centers, poorly defined in either tor suggest that the production center may case, may lie in the Severn River country. lie within 15 miles of the James Bay The configuration of the river and its coast. Perhaps indicative of the approxi- tributaries and two band recoveries sug- mate location of this center is the Kinu- gest that a production center may be sheo River, which originates in this region found somewhere between 50 and 90 miles and flows to the northwest to empty into up this river. Hudson Bay. When the latest 8-miles to William Glennie, a post manager for 1-inch maps, based upon high altitude the Hudson's Bay Company, told the photography carried out in 1947, are com- senior author in 1947 that he had seen pleted, the limits of this center will be fresh goose that were taken from more easily ascertained. nests found in the upper portions of the Production Center F. Between the Severn River watershed, between Windi- and the Fawn River, at a go and Big Trout Lake, localities that lie point about 100 miles inland from the just west of the Paleozoic Basin, rough'y coast of Hudson Bay. In this sector the between latitudes 52° 30' and 54°, but Winisk River and the Fawn River, the stated further that the greatest numbers latter a tributary of the Severn River, bow of Canada geese were found along the sharply toward each other. Between these lower portions of the Severn River. rivers a dendritic drainage pattern with a On flight VII, from York Factory to number of poorly defined lakes is shown Fort Severn, a distance of about 145 miles, on an 8-miles to 1-inch Canadian topo- 28 Canada geese were observed, a number graphic map. At Weenusk, where there that is indicative of a low population are some fairly suitable nesting lakes close density in this section of the Paleozoic to the coast of Hudson Bay, the Indians Basin. Observations and aerial photos report that they shoot most of their reveal that the habitat in this area is of banded geese, table 3, about 150 miles up relatively poor quality. Many of the the Winisk River in the general region water areas are in the late stages of filling outlined above. The winding of this river in and the great majority of lakes lack accounts for the difference in the two islands. Nevertheless, a portion of the mileage figures given for the location of muskeg west of Fort Severn probably March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 101

itik^^iife

1*?^.

Fig. 32.—During the spring and summer the muskeg country is very difficult to traverse on foot. In scene pictured here, small spruce are being put down in order to permit crossing between two mats of floating sedge. The photograph was taken in the Lawapiskau River country on July 3, 1947, at which time ice still could be found in many places 15 inches below the surface of the sedge mat.

should be included in the general breeding air, nesting on Akimiski Island is found range of the Mississippi flyway population chiefly in the central portion close to because bands have been reported from the south coast. In this area many suit- this country. The breeding density of able lakes were seen and 61 geese were

Canada geese is probably greater than the observed on the 1947 flight. small number of band recoveries indicate for this section of the muskeg, fig. 30, be- Nest Sites cause of the preference of the Indians at Although there are a number of fairly York Factory for hunting other kinds of well-defined centers of production where geese on the coast of Hudson Ba\ : most of the geese nest and rear their Richardson's goose (lirunta hutchitisii) young, aerial flights in 1947, fig. 4, sub- and the lesser (Chen It. Iiyper- stantiated the information gathered earlier borea) , species said to be fat both in the from the Indians that the breeding pairs spring and in the autumn, while the are scattered within these centers; there

Canada goose is reported to be thin and is seldom more than one pair on a given unpalatable when it arrives on the in- lake. Further evidence pointing to scat- terior breeding grounds. tered nesting was gained by the senior Production Center H. Akiiniski Island. author in 1947 when traversing the mus- From the accounts of the Indians at At- keg on foot. A few penetrations of the tawapiskat and observations made from the muskeg were made at points 15 and 25 102 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 33.^Typical type 4 muskeg lake with small islands. According to native Indians, small islands in lakes of this kind offer preferred nesting sites to Canada geese.

Fig. 3-t.— Vertical view of type 4 or pothole muskeg. Extending outward from most stands of trees is a floating mat of sedge partially supported by sphagnum moss. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 103 miles up the Lawapiskau River, reported- flocks of from 20 to 40 or more geese ly goose-nesting country, and at two generally comprise the autumn flight. points 40 miles up the Albany River, However, the presence of large flocks in which the aerial flights a few days before the autumn along this coast of James Bay had revealed as production centers. Dur- is not surprising since areas of favorable ing these walks, only one pair of geese habitat are more limited there and the was observed, but the faint trails of densit)- of nesting pairs is relatively high, several broods were found, revealing particularly on the Belcher and Twin where geese had moved from one small islands. Donald F. Coates and Donald muskeg lake to another. B. Coombs, as cited earlier (personal com- Unfortunately, because the breeding munication, 1947), found 6 adults and 21 pairs were scattered and the nesting goslings together on \Veston Island. habitat was highly inaccessible, both from From these reports it would .seem that the standpoint of getting a canoe within in the Hudson and James bay region, as walking distance of a production center in western United States, crowding of the and of actually traversing it on foot, fig. nesting pairs is a factor likel\- to induce 32, no nests were located in 1947. Ac- the combining of broods. cording to the Indians, small islands in lakes and ponds offer preferred nesting MIGRATION sites, figs. 3i and 34, but, where no is- lands are present, nearly any location The beautiful and often spectacular close to the water's edge is suitable. An flights of the Canada goose have prob- impression gained from the aerial survey ably held a greater fascination for more is that small lakes of 5 to 30 acres in size people than the flights of any of our other and possessing one or more small islands native birds. Some persons think of geese are the type preferred by nesting pairs. in flight as special creations, living en- In the western United States, Canada viable and unfettered lives. Other per- geese have been found by wildlife workers sons thrill to the sight of migrating geese to concentrate in favored sections of a as an object of sport. To the Canadian marsh or breeding range, such as partic- Indian trapping in the "bush," the first ular islands in lakes and reservoirs. As flocks of geese in early spring afford a a result of such colonial-type nesting, welcome opportunity for a change of diet young broods of several pairs frequently from bannock, , and dried or salted combine into a large rearing brood, a meats. In years when fur and game single pair eventually taking charge of are at low points of their cycles, this brood. The fact that only families of and consequently food stocks are close to normal size have been observed at Horse- depletion, the arrival of geese may mean shoe Lake, or have been reported by Jack relief from near starvation. Miner at Kingsville (see section on "Pro- ductivity"), suggests that scattered nesting Autumn Migration Routes is the rule in the muskeg west of James Our data on the movements of the

Bay ; the assumption is that nesting pairs Canada goose in the Hudson-James bay are so spaced that contacts between broods area are based on information received are infrequent and combination does not from the Indians and white residents and take place to an important degree. on personal observations. Band recov- Information corroborating this view- eries have been the principal source of in- point was reported by R. M. Duncan and formation relating to autumn migration A. H. Michell. Both of these men have movements of Canada geese in the United spent many years as post managers on the States, figs. 13—21, but these recoveries east and west coasts of James Bay. They do not furnish a complete picture of the report that the autumn migration of migration routes. Naturally, most re-

Canada geese along the west coast is coveries are from localities where hunters primarily that of small family flocks, as well as geese congregate, generally in observations which are in agreement with the vicinity of favorite waterfowl rest those made by the authors. On the east lakes or feeding areas where the flocks coast, according to Duncan and Michell, linger before continuing south. Wooded 104 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

or hilly country and waterless prairies are been recovered from country of this na- usually flown over nonstop by migrating ture, even though large numbers of geese geese. Consequently, very few bands have pass overhead each autumn and spring.

Fig. 35.—The tundra of the Cape Henrietta Maria area as seen from the air.

Fig. 36.—The mouth of the Moose River and a portion of Ship Sands Island. The extensive marshes shown in this scene are heavily used by blue and snow geese and to a lesser extent by Canada geese in the autumn. , ;

March, 1950 Hanson- & Smith: Canada Geese 105

In Canada.— Before the southward Apparently, many of the geese that feed migration from the breeding grounds takes on Akimiski Island fly directly to the Jack place, a rather complex series of local Miner Sanctuary as soon as they lea\e the flights occurs. About August 15, short- island. The Indians at Fort Alban\' ly after the young birds are on the wing, a claim that since Jack Miner started band- movement begins to the coasts of Hudson ing geese at his sanctuary they ha\e killed and James bays. This is not a mass flight only a few in the autumn. but a movement of family groups and A number of bands from geese banded small flocks from some of the produc- at Horseshoe Lake have been recovered tion centers near the coast. The geese in summer from the Belcher Islands and that have nested adjacent to the south- the east coast of Hudson Ba\ in the region west coast of Hudson Bay fly north to of Port Harrison, fig. 30. ^V^hether these the coast and then almost due east to Cape bands have been recovered from South

Henrietta Maria, figs. 2, 30 and 35 ; those Atlantic geese that strayed from their that nested adjacent to the west coast of normal flyway and were banded at James Bay, north of the Ekwan River, Horseshoe Lake, whether they were re- fly east to the coast and then north to Cape covered from Mississippi flyway geese that Henrietta Maria. This cape is an isolated strayed east of their normal flyway on area of tundra attractive to the geese at their spring migration, or whether they this season because of the abundance there were recovered from Mississippi flyway of blueberries {J'accir.iiitn sp.), billberries geese that nested west of James Bay and

(1 acchiiurn uli'jlnosum \ , dwarf rasp- then struck out across the bays can be berries {Riibus (irctirus), and crowberries only conjectured on the basis of available

(Empelrum n'tijrtitn). It is of interest to data. In any case, many geese that are note here that flights to the sea coasts for on the east coast of Hudson Bay in the purpose of feeding on berries and other autumn migrate southward along the foods have been reported for other Canada coast to the south end of James Bay, goose populations in the north country where they converge with the groups that

[Newfoundland ( Howley 1884); north- have flown south along the west coast ern Unga\a (Bent 1925, quoting Lucien of James Bay.

M. Turner) ; and Labrador (Austin Because band recoveries suggest a 1932)]. northward movement along the east coast The geese that concentrate on the tun- of James and Hudson bays in the early dra of Cape Henrietta Maria remain autumn by geese that have nested inland there for varying periods before fl\ing from the south coast of James Bay, we south. The length of time the geese re- believe that the final southward flights main in this region depends to a large along the east coast of both bays may degree upon the success of the berry crop, consist of at least some geese from three but probably all geese leave the cape by different populations. Geese of the South the latter part of September. At least Atlantic population that nested along the half of the "cape geese," as they fly south east coast and on neighboring islands down the west coast of James Baj, stop (Belcher and others) make up most of at Akimiski Island, where they concen- the flight geese of the Southeast popula- ; trate on the wide flat marsh on the north tion probably are second in numbers side, a favorite feeding area. According while individuals of the Mississippi V^alle\' to A. H. Michell of the Hudson's Bay population are least numerous, fig. 7. Company, this Hijjht usually takes place At points near the south end of James about September 15. Bay, the South Atlantic geese split away Most of the gee;e nesting south of the from the Mississippi \'a!ley and South- Ekwan River remain in the interior, al- east populations; portions of only the last though a few of them fly to James Ra\ two populations migrate through the where they congregate in moderate-sized Kingsville region in the autumn. The flocks in the coastal marshes about the apparent mechanism of the splitting off river mouths, in country similiar to that of the southward flights along the east shown in fig. 36; others continue to the coast of James Bay into their various marshes of Akimiski Island. components, fig. 37, has been deduced 106 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 37.—Probable migration routes taken by various populations of Canada geese at the southeast end of James Bay. The first splitting away from the combined flocks that migrate southward down the east coast of James Bay occurs somewhere along the northeast shore of Rupert Bay. A second splitting away occurs at or near the feeding grounds bordering Cabbage Willows Bay, the Mississippi Valley geese flying southward, the South Atlantic geese toward the southeast. .March, 1950 Hanson- & Smith: Canada Geese 107 from a description of goose flights in the greatest numbers. At the peak of the Rupert House area given to us by A. H. flight in 1941, about November 15, it was Michell, post manager at Rupert House. estimated that 15,000 to 20,000 geese The first splitting off of the combined were using Lake Wisconsin (Zimmerman autumn flights evidently occurs some- 1942). Five thousand of these birds fed where along the northeast shore of Ru- in the cornfields in the vicinity of Sump- pert Bay, fig. 37. Some of the birds ter, Sauk County (Zimmerman 1942). follow the northeast shore of Rupert Bay Appreciable numbers of Canada geese to the coastal marshes near the mouth of follow the west shore of Lake Michigan the , where they congregate south, according to A. B. McDonald of and feed ; then they leave the James Bay AVadsworth, Illinois, who reported to region and fly southeast. Other flights Frank C. Bellrose of the Illinois Natural cross Rupert Bay and feed in the marshes History Survey that each year flocks of in the vicinity of Cabbage Willows Bay. Canada geese follow the shore line as far At this point a second split occurs; some of south as Zion, Illinois, at which point they the geese fly southeast, while the remain- leave the lake and fly southwestward. der follow a natural pass along a small The exact route taken each year is said stream and a series of muskeg lakes across to remain identical. the neck of the Ministikawatin Peninsula. The Canada geese entering the United These birds continue on to Hannah Bay, States from the Miner Sanctuary by way where they find final feeding grounds be- of southeastern Michigan or northwestern fore departing from the James Bay region. constitute a part of the Mississippi The geese that have remained in the \'allcy population. Reco\eries of geese muskeg west of James Bay, instead of banded in the autumn at the Miner Sanc- flying to the coastal marshes, migrate south tuary show that this segment of the Mis- on a broad front, crossing into upper sissippi rtyway population migrates almost Michigan, Wisconsin, and eastern Minne- straight southwest to the Ohio or lower sota, fig. 13. Probably they comprise the Wabash rivers, stopping en route in con- majority of the birds in the Mississippi siderable numbers at Lake St. Mary or Valley population, figs. 13—21. Grand Reservoir, a 17,500-acre impound- In the United States.—Band re- ment lying in Mercer and Auglaize coveries indicate that the flights of Canada counties, western Ohio. On leaving Lake geese that enter the United States by way St. Mary this group seeminglj' flies di- of upper Michigan, Wisconsin, and east- rectly to the Ohio Ri\er valley, which it ern Minnesota constitute the bulk of the follows to Horseshoe Lake. Mississippi \'alley population figs. 13-21. Another group of geese appears to The flocks that migrate through Wiscon- migrate across lower Michigan from sin in the autumn adhere principally to the Saginaw Bay to the counties in the south- eastern half of the state. Alany of the western portion of the state. Some of flocks follow the west shore of Lake these geese winter in the vicinity of the Michigan. Other flocks favor one of two W. K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary near the other routes : ( 1 ) the \alley of the Lake, Kalamazoo County, and along Wisconsin River; (2) from Green Bay lower Kalamazoo River. The majority south to Lake AV'innebago, the flights eventually continue southward, crossing probably splitting south of Lake Winne- north-central Indiana to the Wabash bago, one sector going to the Lake Geneva River bottoms; some of them join geese area and the other following the Rock that have migrated south along the east River. shore of Lake Michigan and then fly According to Zimmerman (1943), the either straight south to the Wabash and greatest concentration of Canada geese Ohio river bottoms or in smaller numbers in Wisconsin during the autumn migra- fly southwestward directly to Horseshoe tion occurs in .Adams, Columbia, Fond-du- Lake. Lac, Sauk, Walworth, and AVaushara Much of the Canada goose flight enter- counties; the Arlington prairie in Colum- ing Illinois from Wisconsin in all likeli- bia County and the Rock and Big Foot hood traverses the length of Illinois on a prairies in Walworth County attract the fairly broad front, but band recoveries 108 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. i

X s

B 3

«

O

o .a

o

O j:

§3 Hi March, 1950 Hanson ,^ Smith: Canada Geese 109

suggest that important numbers of birds occurs, it must be early in the autumn follow the Illinois River to its juncture before many geese ha\e been banded. with the Mississippi River. At that point There is reason to believe that the the Illinois River flight may be augmented Horseshoe Lake Refuge has acted as a by flocks (relatively few in number) that "bottleneck" in that each year it has at- follow the Mississippi River southward tracted increasing numbers of geese that toward Horseshoe Lake. previously have wintered along the lower Because there has not been sufficient Mississippi River. Few of these geese, banding of Canada geese in southern parts having entered the refuge, woXild be ex- of the Mississippi flyway, the flight lanes pected to continue migration later in the of Canada geese wintering on the lower season, ex'cept under pressure of extreme Mississippi River, from Tennessee to weather. Hence, they would augment the Louisiana, are less apparent than the concentration surviving from previous routes taken by flocks wintering farther years as well as contribute to the kill. north. Recoveries of geese banded at The theory that the refuge acts as a Kingsville, Ontario, in the autumn, figs. "bottleneck" assumes that ingress of new 1-1—21, suggest that many of the flocks birds from other areas exceeds the egress migrate down the lower Ohio River of old flock members. The decoying effect valley to the Tennessee River, which they of a large concentration, abundant food, follow south instead of continuing on to and a roost lake would seem the basis for Horseshoe Lake. Presumably, at a num- a differential in favor of ingress. ber of points these flocks later leave the We do not yet have satisfactory data Tennessee River and cross over to the on tlie migration routes of Canada geese lower Mississippi River. wintering in western Louisiana. Re- Additional data indicating that con- covery records of geese banded at the siderable numbers of geese by-pass Horse- Miner Sanctuary and at Horseshoe Lake shoe Lake to the east via the Tennessee indicate that the migration routes of the River are found from band recoveries of Mississippi Valley population do not lie geese raised at Seney National Wildlife far west of the Mississippi River. Hence, Refuge in the northern peninsula of the flocks that migrate through central Michigan, fig. 39K. Of the total number or western Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, of band recoveries made, the number re- and Arkansas, and those (possibly the ported from Arkansas was second only to same) that winter in western Louisiana, the number reported from Michigan constitute part of a distinct population, (Johnson 1947). These recoveries were the Eastern Prairie, but scattered band made during the same period that hea\y recoveries of geese banded at Horseshoe kills were occurring at Horseshoe Lake. Lake and taken in Manitoba, South

It is, of course, assumed that the migrant Dakota, western Minnesota, Louisiana, birds from the Seney Refuge joined other and eastern Texas are evidence that there wild flocks from the north or at least used is some exchange of birds between the the traditional paths of migration. Mississippi Valley population and the Recently Earl L. Atwood, manager of Eastern Prairie population. the Kentucky Woodlands National Wild- life Refuge, informed the senior author Spring Migration Routes (personal communication, December, There are too few spring band re- 1947) that the Tennessee River valley is coveries in the United States to depict ac- a traditional flyway for Canada geese. curately the northward migration routes

There is no evidence, either from obser- of Mississippi flyway geese. Judged by vation or from band recoveries, to indicate trap records from the Miner Sanctuary, that there is an important turnover in the the spring movement is more directly flock using the Horseshoe Lake area in northward and somewhat west of the the autumn. According to our records, autumn migration routes. Each spring only one goose banded at the refuge has in early March, a marked increase is been taken an appreciable distance south noted in the numbers of Canada geese at of it the same season as banded, fig. 13 Horseshoe Lake and at Hovey Lake, and table 4. If a turnover in the flock Posey County, Indiana. The latter area 110 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 harbors few geese in the autumn, but is over at least a 3-month period, the earliest host to large concentrations after the migrants leaving James Bay in the fore- middle of February. It is conceivable part of September and the last reaching that the late winter concentration may Horseshoe Lake in December, the exact consist of geese of the Southeast popula- dates depending on the severity of the tion, which may take a more westerly weather. route in their northward than in their Migration records from federal refuges southward migrations. Other important and Horseshoe Lake, table 5, suggest that late winter or spring concentration points the outward movement of geese from the are the drainage districts near Putnam, breeding grounds may be compared with Illinois (spring 1946 and 1947), the a segment of the concentric waves pro- Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (Hop- duced by an object striking the surface kins 1947), bottomlands of the Bark of a body of water ; the earliest flocks or River in Wisconsin, farm lands at the migratory waves travel the greatest dis- south end of Lake Oshkosh in eastern tances in the shortest periods of time Wisconsin, and Gull Lake in southwest- and reach their wintering grounds in the ern Michigan. far south before many other flocks hsive As most spring band recoveries are from left the north country. First arrivals the remains of geese shot the previous are noted at Horseshoe Lake and at autumn, no differentiation is made be- federal refuges farther south as early as tween autumn and spring recoveries in or earlier than they are recorded at ref- figs. 13-21. uges farther north. A similar picture Apparently, after feeding in the rich has been found to be true for areas farm lands along the migration routes lying only short distances apart. Leopold in the United States and southern Canada, & Jones (1947) reported that in 5 out the flocks fly almost directly to the breed- of 6 years flocks of Canada geese were ing grounds. recorded near Madison, in Dane County, Wisconsin, 2 to 27 days before they were Time and Rate of Migrations observed about 40 miles to the north- The autumn migration of geese win- west, near the Wisconsin River, in Sauk tering at Horseshoe Lake is spread out County.

Table 5.—Dates of first recorded autumn arrivals of Canada geese at federal refuges and at Horseshoe Lake, Illinois, 1938-1941.

Refuge March. 1950 Haxsox & Smith: Canada Geese 111

60,000-1

50,000 HORSESHOE LAKE, ILLINOIS 1941-42 1942-43 1943-44 NUMBER AT 1944-45 INVENTORY 40,000 1945-46

ROCK-WALWORTH COUNTIES, WISCONSIN

iiii l ii 1942-43

13 30,000-

? 20,000

20 25 30 10 15 20 15 17 25 28 SEPTEMBER OCTOBER JANUARY

Fig. 38.—Build-up of the Canada goose flock at Horseshoe Lake during the autumn and winter of the years 19+1-1946. .\lso shown is the build-up of the Canada goose tloclc in Rock and Walworth counties in the autumn and winter of 1942-43 (from Zimmerman 1943).

The build-up of autumn concentra- arrival of the first flocks in the James Bay tions at Horseshoe Lake is shown in fig. region is quite punctual, generally be-

38. As the majority of the geese win- tween April 15 and 25, which is the tering at this refuge arrive before the time of the goosemoon, "nisku pesim," of bulk of the kill has been made farther the Cree Indians. In most years, the north, probably the flocks that leave earliest flocks arrive on the breeding the breeding grounds later, and winter grounds 2 to 3 weeks before the break- farther north, contribute most to the up of the major rivers, table 6. kill in areas north of the refuge. George MacCloud, a lifelong resident Spring migration movements appear to of the James Bay area, reported to the be more leisurely than the flight south, senior author that a second flight of but this impression may be created by Canada geese generally takes place about flocks of nonbreeding adult or yearling Tune 10. These late geese are said to be geese that are under no stimulus to reach in large flocks, whereas most of those that the breeding grounds at an early date. VVe arrive earlier are paired. He thought that have seen several hundred geese in the the late arrivals were largely young of vicinity of Lake Wisconsin throughout the previous year. Although we have the first week in May. and Hopkins been in the bay area during June, we are (1947) states that the last flock in the unable to confirm, by personal observa- area in 1947 remained tion, the "flight of stragglers." until May 8. On the other hand, the However long the northbound Canada 112 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Table 6.—First arrival or first kill of Canada geese at Fort Albany, Ontario, and date of breakup of the Albany River.*

Year March, 1950 Hanson ,:x Smith: Canada tjEssH IIJ

vides acceptable roosting sites. AV'hcn the as at the Miner Sanctuary in early Decem- local food supph is exhausted or co\ercd ber, the geese in the northern sectors of with snow, or when feeding is curtailed, the Hyway migrate farther south.

- JACK MUTER MIGRATORY BIRD SAIICTUARY - ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY - HORSESHOE LAKE GAME REFUGE - GULL LAKE AND W. K. KELLOGG BIRD SANCTUARY AREA - KALAMAZOO RIVER SWAMPS AND MARSHES - LEIDY LAKE - SAGOJAW BAY - LEELANAU AND BENZIE COUNTY AREA - SENEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - ALPENA SANCTUARY M -- ROCK PRAIRIE STATE REFUGE N — GREENWOOD FARM STATE REFUGE - GRAND RESERVOIR OR LAKE ST. >AARYS - HOVEY LAKE STATE REFUGE - LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER - WHITE RP/ER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - DELTA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - WHITE LAKE AND LACASSINE NATIONAL V/ILDLIFE REFUGE - CALCASIEU LAKE AND GALVESTON BAY AREA

-WINTERING AREA -STOPOVER AREA

Fig. 39.—Location of important concentration areas for Canada geese of the Mississippi Valley population. ' . . —

114 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Each January an inventory of the of the lower Mississippi River, may not be waterfowl populations wintering in the of sufficient reliability because complete aircraft possible. United States is made by the United coverage by was not States Fish and Wildlife Service and co- For reasons explained in the section operating agencies, assisted by selected "Autumn Migration Routes," we believe private individuals. The January inven- that the flocks of western Louisiana prob- tories have produced useful information, ably are not an integral part of the Mis- particularly in regard to population sissippi Valley population. Nevertheless, trends but, because these inventories are they should be considered along with the taken over a limited period of time (4 Mississippi Valley population in order to days), in some areas they have been subject detect whether major population shifts to considerable error in past years. For occur between the flyways in some years example, the immense coastal marshes of and to determine the effect that kills in the Louisiana, which are notoriously difficult upper Mississippi River valley may have to traverse on the ground, cannot be .on the western Louisiana populations. A covered adequately except by plane. Be- brief survey of the various concentration cause thorough aerial censuses of the areas and the populations using them Canada goose population in Louisiana follows. were not made before the winter of Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary 1943—1-4, and because adequate data are lacking for many other parts of the fly- The Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, lo- way prior to that winter, we do not con- cated in the rich farm lands of Essex sider the population data previous to that County, Ontario, figs. 39A and 40, 4 date to be of sufficient reliability to meet miles from , was one of the present-day management needs. Even first waterfowl refuges established in some of the data in table 7, particularly North America. The history of this ref- the 194-1—1-5 figures for the populations uge and of Jack Miner's work with in Arkansas and on a considerable portion Canada geese has a bearing on discussions

Table 7. Population of Canada geese in the Mississippi River valley, 1943-44 through 1946-47.. Data are from the annual January inventories, except as noted.

Seasok State or Other Area 1943-44 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47

Michigan . . ,220 2,200 2,343 3,512 Wisconsin. ,350 4,100 4,310 5,000 Minnesota 5 100 Ohio 248 105 Indiana 343 750 985 1,369

Illinois I Mason County). 9251 8001 360' 31,649' Horseshoe Lake 37 ,000' 30,000* 22,000' Iowa 125 6 Kentucky ,720 2,280 1,200 1,230 Mississippi River (Tenn.-Miss. line to White Ca.stle, La.) ,3005 10,000" 1,650 7,540 Arkansas ,0005 10,500 5,400 800 Missouri ,300 5,440 665 2,370 Louisiana Delta ,000* 1,0005 }l0,000' 8,065' Western Louisiana ,000* 12,0005 Tola/ ,731 79,181 49,013 '61,640 Total, exclusive of western Louisiana ,731 67,181

'Census by Frank C. Bellrose, Illinois Natural History Survey. ' Of the number ol Canada geese in Illinois, about 30,000 were at Horseshoe Lake and 800 at the Union County refuge. ' Census by Paul S. Smith, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and Harold C. Hanson at January inventory. * Average ol estimates by Robert H. Smith, Paul S. Smith, and Frank C. Bellrose after hunting season. * Census by Robert H. Smith. •Total for Tennessee and Mississippi combined in January inventory. ' Inventory figure lor all of Louisiana. According to Richard H. Griffith, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 1,500 Canad.i geese were at the Delta National Refuge and 5,440 at the Lacassine and Sabine National Wildlife refuges in' the winter of 1946-47. March, 1950 Haxsox & Smith: Canada Geese 115

in this paper and is also of general in- acre homestead area. About 100 acres terest. are planted to rye and timothy, the re- Jack Miner (1923) built his first pond mainder to corn, which constitutes the and set out decoys to attract geese in 1904, only grain fed to the geese. Fields of but did not lure in a family of geese until timothy, which have been cut for seed, 1908. The numbers of geese using the are said to make ideal pastures for Canada refuge built up slowly in the early years, geese and are heavil\' grazed. Approxi-

Fig. 40.—View of the main pond and feeding grounds at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kingsville, Ontario. Contact of the geese with human beings is avoided whenever possible. Corn is distributed at night, and visitors remain concealed while observing the geese. and until 1915 the refuge attracted mately 20,000 bushels of ear corn are fed Canada geese only in the spring. In later during the autumn and spring seasons; years the autumn flight equaled the spring when there is an appreciable local kill the flight in size. corn is fed more heavily than at other Efforts at trapping and banding Canada times. geese did not succeed until 1915, and By Proclamation and Order in Council large-scale bandings were not accomp- of the Provincial Government, no shoot- lished until nearly 10 years later. Table ing is permitted on an additional 1,600 2 presents the best available data on the acres of land neighboring the 400 acres numbers of Canada geese banded at the owned by the Miners. Thus, the geese Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary in the are protected in all directions from the autumn. central feeding grounds by a buffer strip The Miner homestead, ponds, and feed- about 1 mile deep. ing grounds consist of 17 acres. All feed- A few geese arrive at the refuge by late ing is done around the ponds, but a few September. Noticeable increases in num- rye and timothy fields are planted as re- bers usually occur between October 10 treats and sources of food to be used when and 15, and peak numbers are reached by the geese on the ponds are disturbed. about November 10. There is a constant Additional farm land, owned by the Jack renewal of the population as some individ- Miner Migratory Bird Foundation, Inc., uals continue their migration south and amounting to 400 acres, surrounds the 17- others arrive from the north. The bulk ; —

Vol. Art. 116 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 25, 3

private club miles southeast of Bath. of tlie autumn flock leaves by late Novem- 2 ber or early December. In some years Flocks frequenting Goose Pond and Lake prior to World War II, as many as 5,000 Senachwine (the part formerly known as geese were reported to have remained all Swan Lake) have not been observed feed- winter. Some of these wintering geese ing in any particular sector. In general, from the autumn flight have received feeding areas are within 7 miles of a roost "S" marked bands in the spring along lake. Population data for the above areas with birds that have wintered at Curri- are summarized in table 8. tuck Sound and Lake Mattamuskeet, Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. thereby explaining why some spring bands The most important Canada goose winter- are subsequently recovered in the Mis- ing ground in the Mississippi River sissippi River valley, fig 12. valley in recent years, the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, with its surrounding area,

Illinois figs. 1 and 39C, during the period of this Of the areas in Illinois important to study harbored approximately 50 per cent migrating and wintering flocks of Canada of the goose population of the flyway for geese, the two most Important are the varying autumn and winter periods. Be- Illinois River valley and the Horseshoe cause of inadequate food supplies on the Lake Game Refuge in Alexander County refuge, as well as intense hunting pressure at the southern end of the state. in surrounding privately owned fields, the Illinois River Valley. — Canada flock fed in most winters over a 15-mile geese have been reported from 23 bottom- radius. The majority of the geese roosted land lakes in the Illinois River valley, fig. within the refuge each night, although i9B, but regularly from only seven lakes, some flocks resorted to islands and bars table 8. These lakes act chiefly as roost in the Mississippi River. areas ; feeding is done in the cultivated The lake, fig. 41, 1,200 acres in size, uplands and in some drainage districts. of an oxbow type common to the bottom- Geese of five of the Illinois concentrations lands in the flood plain of the Mississippi

disperse to feed as follows : Beebe Lake River, in many places is 200 or more yards geese depend largely on the winter in width and 4 to 6 feet in depth. A dam

and the corn of Duck Island ; Lake Chau- maintains fairly stable water levels, but tauqua and Clear Lake geese feed mainly most of the land enclosed by the lake is in the cultivated fields of Mason County subject to flooding when the Mississippi or Crane Lake and Jack Lake birds seek Ohio River reaches high flood stage. Open most of their food in or near a 1,000-acre water surrounds the island except for a

Table 8.—Canada goose populations three regions of the Illinois River valley, autumns of 1938-1946.

•

Yf.ar March, 1950 Hansox & Smiih: Canada Geese 117

Fig. 41.—View of the east arm of Horseshoe Lake. The large open expanses of the lake are favored by the geese for roosting purposes.

Fig. 42.—The greater portion of Horseshoe Lake is open water, but the north and south portions have heavy stands of live and dead cypress and tupelo gum trees. A dam maintains fairly stable water levels except when the Mississippi or the Ohio River reaches high flood stage. Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. .S 118 Illinois Natural History Survey

Fig. 43.—Aerial view of Canada geese on Horseshoe Lake in November, 1945. The popula- tion of the entire flocli could be counted with a considerable degree of accuracy if suitable aerial photographs were available. small portion at the north end, where the mainder of the lake, and in some places the lake is svvamplike and has an irregular cypresses extend entirely across the lake. stand of tupelo gum and cypress trees, fig. During late years of this study the ref- 42. Gums and cypresses border the re- uge contained about 3,660 acres. The

Table 9.—Number of Canada geese using the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, 1928-29 through 1946-47.

Season' March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 119

i.-.land has an area of 1,360 acres, of which taken, and whether they included only 1,200 have been farmed in recent years the number of birds alive on certain dates to produce food for the geese. The re- or the total number arriving at the refuge maining acreage supports some of the finest in any given year. The population data virgin bottomland timber in the state. Of given in table 9 summarize the census the cultivated portion of the island usually figures for several years. 300 to 400 acres are planted to corn and Population estimates of the Horseshoe 700 acres sown to wheat, but these acre- Lake flock since 1939 have been made by ages have varied considerably from year staff members of the United States Fish to year. In the last several years all crop and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Nat- land on the island has been planted in ural History Survey, table 9. These corn. Wheat or corn is sown on the 100 estimates have been made by visually acres of the refuge adjoining the east dividing the flocks into blocks, counting shore across from the island. the number of geese in the sample blocks Many of the published statements in when the great bulk of the geese are recent years regarding the size of the feeding in the wheat fields on and near Canada goose flock at Horseshoe Lake the refuge, and then using the sample have not been in agreement. The result counts to calculate the total population. uas been confusion in the minds of the The practice in some years has been to public. WTiile a few "census figures" have make periodic estimates from the time the been based on pure guesswork and are first geese arrived in late September until therefore unreliable, many of the dif- peak populations have been reached in late ferences in published data may be related autumn. Since 1944, aerial censuses just to the times of the year the censuses were before and after the hunting seasons have

Fig. 44.— .Aerial view of Burnham Island ami adjacent bars in the Mississippi River, 4 miles west of Horseshoe Lake. Prior to the establishment of the refuge, Canada geese wintered in large numbers on similar bars and islands of the Mississippi River, from Chester to Cairo, Illinois. Geese have made some use of these islands even since the refuge was established. 120 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. .1

been made at Horseshoe Lake and nearby wattomie and Ottawa marsh areas, the areas, figs. 43 and 44. Population figures latter a part of the Swan Creek Wildlife for 1941-42 through 1945-46 are shown Experiment Station located in Heath, grapiiically in fig. 38. Manlius, and Valley townships, and the Todd Farm Sanctuaiy in Ganges and Michigan Clyde townships near the Kalamazoo In Michigan there are three major con- River, all in Allegan County, are some of centration areas and two of minor impor- the most important concentration grounds tance. for Canada geese in Michigan. Each site Kalamazoo River Bottoms and differs somewhat from the others and there Nearby Lakes.—The Kalamazoo River is a free interchange of birds from one area bottoms and a number of lakes in the to the other. southwestern section of the state con- The Pottawattomie and Ottawa areas stitute the most important region in consist of 2,800 acres, principally marshy Michigan for concentrations of migrant bottomlands with adjacent timbered areas. and wintering Canada geese, fig 39. This These areas serve as both private and pub- general area includes three specific con- lic hunting grounds. centration sites. The Swan Creek Wildlife Experiment 1. Gull Lake and the W. K. Kellogg Station has a 550-acre sanctuary of par- Bird Sanctuary and Farms are located in tially flooded land, once farm land, and Prairieville and Barry townships in Barry timbered bottomland. County and in Richland and Ross town- The Todd Farm Sanctuary comprises ships in Kalamazoo County, fig. 39D. 1,500 acres of drained lake-bottom farm Gull Lake, with an arta of 3,000 acres, land. This sanctuary furnishes both feed-

is designated as a rest lake. -Hunting is ing and resting sites. Hutchins Lake, prohibited on the -mile strip sur- north of the farms, is used by geese as a rounding this lake and on the Kellogg rest lake in the autumn. A spring-fed tract of 600 acres. creek crossing the farm remains open The above district lies on an extensive through the winter, and food is available outwash plain and is characterized by to the geese in the cultivated fields. small lakes and kettle holes. Some near- The greatest concentration of geese re- by sections are too hilly to be farmed, but corded in the above sections was 6,000, in hay, corn, and wheat are raised extensively the autumn of 1945. The wintering flock on the less hilly sections. The geese feed was estimated at 2,000. Both figures are in the cultivated upland fields and also said to represent spectacular increases in they are hunted there. comparison with those of previous years. In 1945, the maximum autumn popula- In 1944 the wintering flock was estimated tion in the area was 5,000 birds, and about to be only 400. the same number were present during the 3. A 250-acre sanctuary at Leidy Lake peak of the 1946 spring migration. The in Leonidas Township, St. Joseph County, wintering population usually varies from fig. 39Fj serves as an important spring to 1,000 2,000, but may be considerably concentration point ; over 2,000 geese were less for several weeks in midwinter. In estimated to be on the area in 1946. It 1944-45, 500 geese wintered at Gull Lake is used less in the autumn, 300 to 400 (Dr. Miles D. Pirnie, then in charge of being average numbers of geese present at the sanctuary, personal communication). that time. Normally a majority of the birds leave by Saginaw Bay.—Saginaw Bay is a mid-January and return again by mid- major concentration area for both autumn February. Weather determines their and spring flights of Canada geese, fig. movements; usually a portion of Gull 39G^. The spring flights may consist Lake remains open throughout the winter, largely of South Atlantic geese en route and waste grain is generally available in north from the Miner Sanctuary. The the uplands for geese that winter in the geese do not linger long at Saginaw Bay area. in the autumn because of the absence there 2. The Kalamazoo River swamps and of sanctuaries. They have been forced by marshes, fig. 39£, principally the Potta- hunting pressure to reverse their normal March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 121

daily routine, feeding after dusk in the The entire refuge is in cultivated prairie grain fields and roosting in daylight hours uplands and is used for feeding only. on the open waters of the bay. They do Since feeding was initiated in 1940, not winter in this sector, as there is no between 25 and 45 tons of corn have been open water. fed each season. The geese that frequent The best estimates axailable place the this refuge in the autumn and winter maximum numbers frequenting the bay usually fly to Lake Geneva and Lake during the autumn or spring migrations Koshkinong for roosting. at about 15,000 birds. Canada geese do not remain in southern Leelanau and Benzie Counties.— ^Visconsin during severe winters. In Leelanau and Benzie counties in Michi- 1945—1-6, local estimates placed the win- gan, fig. 39//, constitute a less important tering flock at 3,000. In 1942, 4,500 concentration area than the Kalamazoo geese wintered in these two counties River or Saginaw Bay areas. A number of (Zimmerman 1942). Peak autumn popu- scattered sites are favored : Glen Lake and lations in Rock and AVal worth counties about four sections of hilly grassland in have generally varied from 4,000 to 6,000 Empire Township, Leelanau Countv, and birds. The btnld-up in numbers of geese

Lake Ann, Upper , and Platte in the autumn of 1942 is shown graphically Lake in Benzie County. A 1,200-acre ref- in fig. 38. uge recently established in Empire Town- Greenwood Farm Refuge.—The ship provides feeding and resting areas, Greenwood Farm Refuge, established in

Canada geese have used this area as a 1940, contains 1,751 acres. It is situated regular stopping place for only about 10 in Hancock and Deerfield townships, years. In recent years as many as 2,000 western Waushara County, fig. 39A^ geese have frequented it regularly, but Altiiough it is intended primarily as a few winter in the area; there were about rest area, in some parts of this refuge 50 in 1945. Some Canada geese may farmers are paid to leave corn standing nest in this region. in the fields for the geese. The flocks Other Michigan Areas.—There are roost on the sand bars of the Wisconsin two other concentration areas in Michigan River, about 20 miles to the west. The of less importance than the above. The refuge was first used by a few geese in Seney National Migratory Waterfowl 1942; as many as 3,000 birds had been Refuge, fig. 39A', consists of 30,000 acres reported on the area by 1946. surrounded by a vast area of wild land. The autumn concentration in 1945 was Ohio estimated at 3,000 geese. The spring Lake St. Marys, or Grand Reservoir, maximum was 2 500. fig. 39/*, a 17,500-acre impoundment in The Alpena Sanctuary, fig. 39L, com- Mercer and Auglaize counties, is heavily prises 500 acres of land on the Thunder used by Canada geese in migration, but Bay River in Alpena Township, Alpena few geese winter there or in other parts County. Geese stocked at this refuge of Ohio. January inventory figures, have attracted as many as 400 migrants 1941—1946, show an average of only 400 in the autumn. Canada geese in the entire state; inventory figures for the state, 1936—1941, averaged Wisconsin 1,600 per year. In Wisconsin there are two refuges or concentration areas of importance. Indiana Rock Prairie Refuge.—The Rock Hovey Lake, fig. 390, the most im-

Prairie Refuge, fig. 39jM , consisted of portant wintering area for Canada geese

640 acres when established in 1936. Be- in Indiana, is located in Posey County in

fore the refuge was relocated, it lay part- the extreme southwestern tip of the state, ly in Richmond Township, Walworth 4 miles from the confluence of the Wabash County, and partly in Johnstown Town- and Ohio rivers. The lake and adjoining ship, Rock Count). In 1945 the refuge marsh and swamp land, totaling 900

was shifted 3l j miles to the west so that acres, were purchased in 1938 with funds it lay entirely within Rock County. made available through the Federal Aid 122 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

in Wildlife Restoration Act. The lake, The flood-plain lakes are shallow, nearly a half mile wide and three-quarters cypress-rimmed oxbows, devoid of sub- of a mile long, has an area of about 400 merged vegetation and used by the geese acres. Bald cypress is found around cer- only for roosting. The geese make daily tain parts of the lake, but willow, elm, flights from these lakes to the prairie for and soft maple, with an understory of feeding. The prairie is intensively culti- buttonbush, occupy most of the shore line. vated ; , winter oats, soybeans, and Approximately half of the lake is open lespedeza are the principal crops. The to ; the remainder is a practice of leaving the rice fields fallow refuge. No supplemental feeding is periodically and using them for pasture carried out on the refuge sector, a factor makes attractive foraging areas for geese, that may partially explain why the geese as the ground between the old rice levees that use the area have retained their wild- is frequently flooded or at least wet during ness. Nearby wheat fields are cropped the winter. by the geese to a considerable extent, but Because of the difficulty of censusing no serious damage has been reported. the extensive areas of bottomland swamps, During the winter period the geese do we believe that in most years our data on much of their feeding in overflow, bottom- populations in Arkansas are not reliable. land cornfields that have been harvested In the winter of 1943—44, the population with mechanical pickers. was successfully censused and estimated to There are seldom more than 300 geese be 5,000, but we are unable to state with in the vicinity of Hovey Lake during the any certainty what the population was in hunting season. Maximum numbers prior or subsequent years, as the birds win- during three recent winters are as follows: tering in this region occasionally use the 1,000 on January 8, 1944; 1,500 on Mississippi River bars and may have been January 20, 1945; and 2,000 on Januarv included in the estimate for the Mis- 27, 1946. sissippi River area. Duplications in the inventory figures for Arkansas and the Arkansas lower Mississippi River in 1944—45 may The geese wintering in the lower White account for the indicated increases for this River and Arkansas prairie area, fig. 395, region in that winter and partially ex- use several distinct types of habitat : the plain the apparent sudden great drop in flood-plain swamp lakes of the White the total population of Mississippi flyway River National Wildlife Refuge, the geese in the following year, table 7. neighboring prairie area of Arkansas County, and the sand bars of the lower Lower Mississippi River Arkansas River and adjacent parts of the Islands and bars in the Mississippi Mississippi River. River attractive to wintering Canada

LAKE CHARLES

5 GRAND LAKE 6 CALCASIEU LAKE 9 AVERY ISLAND 7 SABINE LAKE 10 LAKE FAUSSE POINTE 8 GALVESTON BAY

^'^ 4S.—Location of wintering grounds of Canada geese on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 123 geese extend north to Chester, Illinois, In primitive times the geese depended and south to White Castle, Louisiana. on forage produced on sand bars and in However, except for scattered flocks, few shallow flood-plain lakes, since there were Canada geese have wintered on the Alis- then no cultivated crops in the bottom- sissippi River between Cairo, Illinois, and land country. Early agricultural devel- the Tennessee-Mississippi state line in opments tended to keep them on the bars recent years. in the southern sections of the flood-plain The portion of the Mississippi River and upper delta country because cotton used by Canada geese throughout the win- and sugar cane were the only crops ex- ter, fig. 39R, has an area, from levee to tensively raised. Each year increasingly levee, of well over 1,500 square miles. In large acreages are planted to winter grains this huge expanse of territory the channel and legumes in the north and central por- has constantly shifted by cutting and tear- tions of the bottomlands, thereby increas- ing on one side and depositing on the ing the food resources for the geese in that other ; the result is a labyrinth of chutes section. and oxbows that have formed numerous The habitat at Grand Lake and Lake islands and bars. Each island usually has Fausse Pointe, fig. 45, while near the one or more sand bars, and most of the coast, is of the sand-bar type rather than bends in the channel have bars on the marsh. The geese are found on the upper inside, fig. 44. Portions of the higher is- ends of the lakes where the distributaries lands and bars, covered with small switch of the Atchafalaya River have forjned a willows, grasses, and sedges, are used as subdelta, creating conditions very similar feeding areas by the geese. At times, the to those found on the river sand bars. bark of the small switch willow appears The geese sometimes work back and forth to be staple food of geese throughout the across the Atchafalaya swamp between area. Grand Lake and the Mississippi River, The geese using this section of the as less than 25 miles separate the lake river are widely scattered ; usually they from White Castle, Louisiana, the nearest are in small or medium-sized flocks, but point on the river. occasionally in large flocks. They show Our data on goose populations in this a preference for certain bars, which they sector of the valley are meager. Esti- use year after year. Varying water stages mates made by the United States Fish and affect the accessibility of the bars to the Wildlife Service have varied from 1,600 geese and may cause the flocks to shift to 10,000 geese between 1944 and 1946. about when water levels change rapidly. Accurate census figures are especially 124 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

ncedi-d from the lower Mississippi River wet pastures, interspersed with patches of each year, hecause data from this area maidencane, Panicuni heiiiitOTnon, and are apt to indicate to what extent kills southern wildrice, Zizaniopis miliacea. made in the Horseshoe Lake region are A vast expanse of maidencane and Jamaica at the expense of populations wintering saw grass, Mariscus jaimaicensis, with below Cairo, Illinois. occasional low grassy ridges, is found throughout the marsh between White Coastal Marshes Lake and the edge of the prairie. At the The coastal marshes of Louisiana and west end of Pecan Island there are old east Texas extend from the mouth of the stranded beach ridges roughly paralleling Mississippi River west to Galveston Bay. the coast line. The ridges, pastures, and In this vast expanse of marsh, totaling rice fields are used extensively by geese over 5,000,000 acres, less than 700,000 for feeding areas. The deep marsh is acres are inhabited by Canada geese. used primarily for roosting. Western sections of this range are used Calcasieu Lake to Galveston Bay. also by white-fronted geese, and between —The Canada geese occupying the range the Delta and Rockefeller refuges the from Calcasieu Lake to Galveston Bay are

winter range of the Canada goose is over- found on Calcasieu and Sabine lake lapped by that of the blue and snow geese. ridges, the edge of the prairie, and the In the coastal marshes are three prin- relatively high sea-rim marshes from cipal concentration areas for Canada Johnson Bayou to Port Bolivar, Texas, geese, figs. 39 and 45, and, as these vary {Y in figs. 39 and 45). The Louisiana somewhat as to type of habitat involved, section of this range is limited, consisting

each is discussed separately. only of a narrow fringe around an exten- Delta of the Mississippi River.— sive area of deep marsh. In Texas, how- At the mouth of the Mississippi River, ever, the reverse is true: a wide area of Canada geese are concentrated on the sea-rim and prairie marshes around a rel- Delta National Wildlife Refuge and the atively small area of deep marsh. Con- adjacent area in the vicinity of Main sequently, almost the entire Texas area is Pass, T in figs. 39 and 45. Here they use good Canada goose range. The marshes a variety of marsh types, from the rel- in this area, along with the high marshes atively hard deltaic flats bordering the of southwestern Louisiana, are heavily Gulf Coast to the deep marsh— the grazed by cattle, which keep the forage "floating prairie" of the interior. This in an ideal condition for feeding geese. is the most isolated wintering area on The geese frequently roost on the inshore the Louisiana section of the Gulf Coast. waters of Calcasieu and Sabine lakes and The marshes to the west between the Galveston Bay, as well as on such smaller Delta Refuge and White Lake, an air-line water areas as Black and Brown lakes. distance of 180 miles, are devoid of Inventory of goose habitat on the Gulf Canada geese, except for a small flock Coast in 1943-44 and 1944-45 revealed inhabiting Avery Island. populations of 12,000 and 13,000 birds, White Lake and Lacassine Ref- respectively. Partial coverage of the Gulf uge.— In the White Lake and Lacassine Coast in 1945—46 indicated no significant area, Canada geese occupy an extensive change in numbers over the previous 2 range (U in figs. 39 and 45): east to years. The above figures represent great Cow Island, north to the edge of the divergence from what was commonly be- prairie below Gueydan, west to Sweet lieved to be the Canada goose population Lake, and south to the Rockefeller Ref- on the Gulf range. Vast areas of ex- uge, which lies below Pecan Island; the cellent marsh are unused by Canada geese. range does not include Grand Lake and Alfred M. Bailey stated (personal com- Lake Misere. Within this area Canada munication) that, even in the late geese are most abundant south of Guey- twenties, Canada geese could be found in dan, where prairie and marsh merge, and only a few places on the Gulf Coast. The on the Lacassine Refuge. In the zone of geese frequent these same places today. contact between the prairie and the "It has become scarcer of late years," marsh, there are marginal rice fields and Bailey & Wright (1931) wrote several March, 1950 Hanson- & Smith: Canada Geese 125 years ago regarding the Canada goose 7,000, Sabine Refuge (Gum Cove and population on the Gulf Coast. While Hackberry Island) 4,000. there may have been much greater num- bers of Canada geese wintering in the GOOSE BEHAVIOR AND marshes of Louisiana 25 or more years HUNTING LOSSES ago, the decrease to present-day popula- tions has not occurred altogether in recent The tremendous number of Canada years. It is more likely that the decrease geese bagged in the vicinity of Horseshoe was a gradual one, probably much of it Lake in recent years has made this area caused by heavy shooting in northern one of the most widely publicized shoot- parts of the range and in Louisiana. It ing spots on the continent. The fearless seems altogether probable that at least and unwary behavior of the geese that some of the geese that normally would winter at the Horseshoe Lake Game Ref- have wintered in Louisiana have been de- uge is responsible in large measure for coyed into Horseshoe Lake for entire the heavy kill, fig. 46. The response of seasons and have contributed to the annual this flock to hunting is contrary to the kills there, but data are not available to traditional reputed behavior of Canada show the e.xtent to which hunting at geese. For centuries, the Canada goose Horseshoe Lake has affected Gulf Coast has been e.xtolled as one of the wisest and populations. For reasons discussed under wariest of all birds and has been regarded "Autumn Migration Routes," it is diffi- as one of the most difficult to hunt success- cult to believe that the kill made at Horse- fully, but hunters and personnel engaged shoe Lake in any recent year would in wildlife management who have ob- materially affect Louisiana populations serxed the habits of the Horseshoe Lake the same year, for there are no data to flock in Alexander County agree that show that an appreciable turnover in the these habits do not conform to the tradi- population occurs at Horseshoe Lake tional pattern of Canada goose behavior. within a single season. How can the behavior of the Canada In 1943—14, aerial coverage showed the goose in Alexander County be reconciled following distribution of the Gulf Coast with its traditional reputation ? If the

Canada goose populations: Delta Refuge species is so wary or intelligent, why is it

I OOn, White Lake and Lacassine Refuge so unsuspicious and easilv killed in Alexan-

Fig. 46.—A portion of the Horseshoe Lake Canada goose flock near the refuge headquarters. In many years, when food was scarce this flock lost much of its normal wariness. :

126 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 der County? That the traits of the The origins of the behavior differences Horseshoe Lake flock are apparently singu- between ducks and geese are deeplv rooted. lar cannot be denied, but there are many Lorenz (1937), Lack (1941), and Tin- clues in the literature that help to explain bergen (1942, 1948) have contributed to its seemingly perplexing behavior. For an understanding of these origins, which example, many authors, after discussing seem to relate in an important degree to tile sagacity of the Canada goose, cite the "innate perceptory patterns." There examples of the behavior of this goose that appears to be an inverse relationship be- conflict with their previous remarks. tween the specificity and specialization of Grinnell (1901) has aptly expressed these patterns and the degree to which the the enigmatic behavior of Canada geese: behavior patterns are ( 1 ) directed by "The wild goose has long been proverbial "" (Lorenz 1937) during a for his shyness and wariness, and he well brief period after hatching and are (2) deserves the reputation that he has gained, developed, subsequent to the imprinting and yet sometimes he is found to be 'as stage, by associative learning. silly as a goose.' So that the gunner who The acute wariness that adult geese follows the geese enough to see much of normally possess seems to be mostly an them will find that at one time great acquired trait. Experience and associa- acuteness and at another a singular lack tion of the young geese with older birds of suspicion are present in the ordinary appear to play an important role in the wild goose. Few birds are more difficult development of the traditional behavior to approach than these, and yet few come pattern. If newly hatched goslings are more readily to decoys or are more easily taken before they have left the nest and lured from their course by an imitation are hand reared, their subsequent be- of their cry." A veteran goose hunter de- havior shows considerable divergence from scribes the Canada goose as "a bird of man} that of the wild birds. The readiness moods. At times, very wise, but at other with which the Canada goose will become times very foolish" (Darby 1916). semidoniesticated when given protection Barnston (1862), referring to the may possibly be related to the slow devel- Canada goose in the Hudson Bay region, opment of wariness in young birds. writes: "Its disposition has less of wild- A factor contributing to the fearless ness in it than that of the snow goose." behavior of the Horseshoe Lake geese is These citations and others given below the dual role played by man on and in the show that many of the traits which make vicinity of the refuge. As the geese are Canada geese vulnerable to hunting have accustomed to the sight of refuge workers, been recognized elsewhere in the country, visitors, and the activities of a relatively indicating that the behavior of the Horse- dense rural population outside the refuge shoe Lake flock is not as unique as one from the time they arrive in the autumn might be led to suspect. The unusual until the opening of the hunting season, aspect of the reactions of the Horseshoe they are apparently unable to comprehend Lake geese seems to be that all or most of the unfriendly role of the hunter. The their behavior traits that tend to make same reaction to man has been found to them vulnerable to hunting are exhibited be true in other places. Todd (1940) in the vicinity of Horseshoe Lake. writes, "Under the protection now afforded at Erie Bay, the geese are less Wariness, Innate and Acquired wary; on March 25, 1932, a party of Many observers point out that geese which I was a member saw about twenty- are not so wary as various species of five resting on the shore of a sheltered cove, ducks, especially the and black and without apparent concern they per- duck. Brandt (1943) noted a difference mitted us to drive up in an automobile in wariness even in the newly hatched within one hundred feet." "Young ducks of most kinds, just hatched, Stone (1937) relates how Canada are very wild little creatures, which geese have responded to food and pro- scatter at once and hide by all sorts of tection on the Atlantic Coast: "In season ruses. Newly hatched geese are most the farmers of this region [Cecilton, trusting little fellows," Maryland] go goose shooting on the March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 127 wheatlields and have decoy Canada geese they had to be practically driven out of to attract the wild birds. Of late years the front pond before they would take the ground has been baited and the geese flight. return year after year to the places where Although the Canada goose possesses they have been fed, which accounts for mental powers that at times seem to be their abundance and tameness. " (Notes superior to those of most birds, and that from a field trip taken in February, 1927, are undoubtedly of great survival value when decoys and baiting were permitted.) under primitive conditions, individuals Even when Canada geese are winter- appear unable to solve problems of self- ing along the vast coastal marshes of the preservation that arise in a highly modified Gulf of Mexico, where, with an abun- environment such as that in the Horse- dance of natural food, they might be ex- shoe Lake region. During the hunting pected to retain their independence, free- season the geese wintering in that region H\ing wild individuals will momentarily exhibit almost a complete disregard for accept man at close range. At the gunfire, flying back day after day to fields Florence Club, near Gueydan, Louisiana, that often are the most heavily shot. 'Fhis geese formerly used for decoys and tame situation has perhaps been aggravated in cripples are brought into the club grounds recent years b\ the fact that the geese can for feeding each evening by calling and feed in these same fields with impunity beating on a tin pan. On these occasions, after the close of the day's shooting but numbers of wild geese accompany the tame are shot at on returning to feed the next birds into the club grounds and feed from day. The flock as a whole appears to be the caretaker's hands. At all other times baffled by the presence of food and pro- these same individuals seem to be un- tection on the refuge at all times, and by approachable. the presence of food (standing corn, win- The importance of the role of man in ter wheat) at all times but protection only conditioning the behavior of an entire a part of the time away from the refuge. flock was brought forcibly to our atten- Grouping tion at the Miner Sanctuary. Until Family about 1925, wild Canada geese using the Jenkins ( 1944) , in a report on the social sanctuary were fed at a pond, 150 feet in organization of a family of geese, states diameter, which is located a few yards that "This well-integrated [Canada goose] from the secondary road that passes in family might be called a family supra- front of the Miner home. During the organism, since it performs the activities migration periods, wlien the geese were fed of a larger, more complex individual, at this small pond, they were usually through coordination of its components. under the observation of large numbers This results in the dominance of the of visitors, who, unconcealed, viewed them family, which is of survival value to its at close range. As a result of this en- members in that they can feed first and couraged familiarity, the vigilance of the rest in the center of the aggregation and geese toward man relaxed to such an are not pecked or chased." extent that the local kills increased. Be- Strong family ties in geese are un- cause the situation needed to be remedied, doubtedly of survival value against natural the geese were fed at a larger pond, fig. enemies, each family being a protective 40, away from the road, where they were unit. Against man, during the hunting hidden from public view by a dense grove season, family grouping proves to be a of pine trees and a tight, 7-foot, wooden liability, as the death or injury of one fence. V^isitors who wanted to view the member frequently lures the rest of the main concentration were required to use family within gun range. Many a veteran blinds or an observation tower overlooking goose hunter can cite examples of sur- the ponds. The resultant change in the viving members of a family flock, con- behavior of the geese was profound, and fused by the loss of one of its members, local kills were soon reduced. After these returning to a shooting pit to be shot at new management measures were insti- again. Bent (1925), in describing the tuted, the sight of man was usually duck-stand method of shooting geese on sufficient ponds and lakes of Massa- to flush the geese ; previously, the inland 128 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

cliusetts, writes, "When the geese are the second pit, two of the flock were killed near enough and properly bunched a raking and one crippled. The two uninjured volley from a battery of guns is poured geese immediately alighted and remained into them and other shots are fired as the with the cripple for about 10 minutes be- survivors rise, with the result that very fore taking flight toward the refuge lake. few are left to fly away. Even some of On their way to the lake, they were these may return and be shot at again if crippled, one being hit so severely it bare- the leaders or parents of the young birds ly gained the refuge. have been killed." This behavior trait It is apparent from these examples of has also been reported by Phillips (1916) : Canada goose behavior that the perma- "Now if a successful shot [probably mean- nency of family ties offers one explanation ing a series of shots fired at one time] is why geese, unlike ducks, cannot easily be finally made into such a flock, and per- shot out of a field. Surviving members of haps one half or three fourths of their broken families searching for mates, number have been killed, the remainder, parents, or young that have been shot after a few turns in the air, or a short probably contribute appreciably to the flight of five or ten minutes, will almost total bag; thus, a high kill at a shooting always return to the pond, where, if not club early in a hunting season may in- actually disturbed, they will remain from sure continuance of a high kill through several hours to a day or so. Sometimes the remainder of the season. The pres- they will decoy a second time." ence of the survivors over the shooting The closely allied little , fields would tend to decoy unbroken Brarita riiiniina, sometimes exhibits the families into gun range. As a result, the same type of behavior. "Even upon first performance of the geese at some clubs arrival [in ] many of the birds toward the close of the hunting season appear to be mated, as I have frequently might be aptly described as a perpetual- shot one from a flock and seen a single motion shooting gallery, the birds moving bird leave its companions at once and across the hunters' horizon in a never- come circling about, uttering loud call- ending procession against the heaviest notes. If the fallen bird is only wounded kind of gunfire. its mate will almost invariably join it, and frequently allow itself to be ap- Sociability proached and shot without attempting to The Canada goose is a social bird and, escape. In some instances I have known except during the breeding season, it tends a bird thus bereaved of its partner to re- to congregate in fairly large numbers. main in the vicinity for two to three days, This tendency, which was common to calling and circling about" (Nelson some of our now extinct species of 1887). birds and , often has two im- Because of the concentration of birds at portant undesirable results: first, under Horseshoe Lake, individuals from a some conditions it causes the species to broken family that return to the shooting lose some of its normal wariness ; and, fields in search of missing members can second, when the remnants of a popula- seldom be identified. However, one such tion band together they give an un- instance was observed by a hunting club warranted impression of general abun- owner in 1944. Four geese from the ref- dance. uge swung over a pit and two were Audubon (1843) made the observation dropped ; the two remaining flew back that the behavior of geese using small toward the refuge, and when over the lake water areas may differ from that of flocks they made a wide swing and came direct- that resort to large bodies of water ; that ly back over the same pit, where they also is, the behavior may vary according to were shot. relative densities on an area. "The

In 1945, another incident was noted Canada goose is less shy when met with that demonstrated the high vulnerability far inland, than when on the sea-coast, of the surviving members of a broken and the smaller the ponds or lakes to family. A flock of five geese entered a which they resort, the more easy it is to shooting field and, as the birds approached approach them." )

March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Canada Geese 129

Apparently wariness is related both to HISTORY OF GOOSE the total size of an aggregation and its HUNTING IN ILLINOIS size in proportion to the area it uses. The first relationship may be of a psychological The hunting of Canada geese was once nature ; many species of mammals and common in widely scattered areas over birds show a reduction in wariness when the state of Illinois. In most of the areas they are in large herds or flocks. It is that formerly offered considerable shoot- fairly common knowledge that many ing, the hunting of Canada geese as a species, for example the , sport of any consequence has ceased to are very wild when at the bottom of their exist. In a few, goose hunting has con- cycles but are quite readily killed when tinued on a smaller scale; only ir. the abundant. At Horseshoe Lake the wari- Horseshoe Lake area has the kill in most ness of the geese in the autumn decreases years been high. Because the histor\- of a:> the flock increases and spreads out over the sport in Illinois parallels the historv the refuge, thereby reducing the area of of many other goose-shooting areas in the unoccupied ground to which disturbed flywa\-, and because it relates to present flocks can retire. goose-management problems, it is briefly \Vhile the loss of natural wariness in reviewed here. aggregations of wild game is serious from Two factors have been chiefly respon- a long-term standpoint, the impression of sible for changes in the methods of goose abundance that local concentrations create hunting, and for the decrease or increase in of the minds of observers may serve as a goose hunting in different sectors : ( 1 fairly immediate threat to the future of a the development of state, federal, and pri- species since it becomes a premise for un- vate refuges, frequently attended by arti- limited gun pressure. To substantiate ficial feeding, and (2) the outlawing of this point we need only cite recent his- both baiting and use of live decoys. For- torv of the flock at Horseshoe Lake. merly, fair bags of Canada geese were From 1942-43 to 1945-46 this flock had made on the Big Foot Prairie in the north- grown smaller each year, while most of eastern portion of Illinois near the Wis- the local residents and visiting hunters consin state line, but, with the establish- at Horseshoe Lake believed that each year ment of a refuge and feeding station in there were "more than ever." To many southern Wisconsin, fewer birds have been hunters, a closed season on this flock in a\ailable to northern Illinois hunters. 1946 seemed to be a needless infringement The Putnam area, west of Lake Senach- of their privileges. wine, in the Illinois River valley, yielded Hewitt (1921) has stated, "It should fair bags of geese until 1935, when both also be pointed out that when a formerly baiting and use of live decoys were pro- abundant becomes reduced in hibited. When feeding was curtailed, the numbers the remnant may tend to herd area no longer proved attractive enough together and thus give an impression to hold flocks for sufficient time to pro- locally of great abundance Local vide hunting. abundance, therefore, should never be In about 1925, i\Iason County, border- taken as an indication of general abun- ing the Illinois River, was the most im- dance, and as a reason for permitting kill- portant goose-shooting area in Illinois. ing in large numbers." 1 he use of live decoys in the fields of

Jackson ( 1943) has stressed the dangers winter wheat situated near large bottom- of overshooting local remnants: "Extinc- land lakes was responsible for the popu- tion in ever)- case was probably brought larity of this area. Field-pen hunting of about at first by gradual depletion of the Canada geese at private shooting clubs population and through local extirpation. and at commercial day-shooting "clubs" When the population becomes reduced to in this county was centered largely east a danger point, extinction may come with of Clear and Chautauqua lakes, northeast unexpected rapidit\-. Dislike the asser- of Havana, and between Bath and Sni- tion as we may, in recent times the human carte. species has been the prime factor in the The average kill of honkers in the Clear extermination of other species." Lake area in the twenties is reported to 130 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 47.—Before pavcti roads and the Horseshoe Lake CJame Refuge brought the hunter auti the Canada goose into close proximity, goose hunting in southern Illinois was a fairly arduous undertaking. Here is a party of well-equipped hunters on their way to a Mississippi River bar. This photograph was taken in Alexander County in the early twenties. (Photograph by Bob Becker.)

48. Fig. —Canada goose hunting as it was carried out on the Mississippi River sand bars in southern Illinois before the creation of a refuge at Horseshoe Lake. (Photograph by Bob Becker.) March, 1950 Hansox & Smith: Canada Geese 1,51

have been about 100 per year or roughly change in the type of wintering habitat, 7 to 10 per cent of the number reported from one that was relatively primitive to to have lingered in that area in those one approaching parklike conditions, goose- years. The top kill in the Bath-Snicarte hunting methods underwent an equally aiea by the Brownstone Club in 1928 was drastic change.

514 geese, more than the combined kill The following description is quoted of all the other clubs in that region. In from an unpublished report in 1941 by the late twenties and early thirties the Arthur S. Hawkins, then of the Illinois average kill at Brownstone was about 400 Natural History Survey, and Paul S. per year. After the prohibition of baiting Smith, then, as now, of the United States and use of live decovs, commercial dav- Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fig. 49.—Scene at goose-hunting club near Horseshoe Lake. The Horseshoe Lake region has been one of the most intensively hunted areas in the United States. The refuge totals only about 3,700 acres, but between 1941 and 19+5 the area around it devoted to hunting averaged 11,000 acres controlled by an annual average of about 50 clubs. The number of pits and blinds in this acreage in the same period averaged appro.\imately 400 and the total hunter capacity of the area 1,000. shooting in the Illinois River valley was At the beginning of the present century at an end, and only one private club there were comparatively few goose hunters, because primarily for goose shooting still exists. goose hunting was no sport for the novice. Most of the hunters were skilled The continuance of Canada goose hunting river men ; those who traveled to the hunt- in Mason County is due largely to the ing; grounds by land did so by horse- or operation of two refuge areas, one private mule-drawn vehicles over many tiresome and one federal, that holds the birds in miles of nearly impassable roads, fig. 47. the area. In recent years, kills in the en- Once at the shooting grounds there remained tire Illinois River valley have been about the task of digging a pit and placing the 400 birds per hunting season. decoys, fig. 48. After a hard day's hunt, The river bars and islands of the Mis- the hunter either camped out on a bare sissippi River between Chester and Cairo, sand bar or faced a long return trip. Al- though there were more geese and fewer Illinois, have been a wintering ground for hunters in those early days, real skill was C anada geese for many years, and since required to bag geese consistently because pioneer days this area has been noted for the goose range was extensive and the sand the goose shooting it afforded. The recent bars numerous. concentration of geese at Horseshoe Lake Then, as now, silhouettes or "shadows," is in marked contrast to the wide dispersal as they are called locally, were used to de- of the birds in earlier tiines. With the coy the geese. Live decoys were seldom History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. ."? 132 Illinois Natural

the Fig. 50.—Modern-day goose hunters in a typical pit at a day-shooting club adjacent to Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge.

Fig. 51.—Typical goose blind in a soybean field near the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. "

March, 1950 Hansox & Smith: Canada Geese 133

used until after 1906, when it became the When decoys were used, the usual proce- custom to use three live decoys in combina- dure was to construct a pen using a roll or tion with the silhouettes. The silhouettes two of 3-foot wire. In this pen were placed were arranged in V-formation, with the as high as 100 geese. L^sually one or more apex of the V downwind from the pit. A geese were separated from their mates so live "caller" was placed at the vertex and that they would "talk" back and forth to at each end of the V. In between were the each other. Another trick was to place a "shadows." Bait was not used, but, in order trained goose, which was wing-clipped, in to induce the geese to work into the proper the blind; the goose was then thrown from bar, hunters sometimes placed "scarecrows the blind and permitted to walk to the pen, on adjacent bars. "talking" to its mate in the pen as it went. Improved roads and faster transportation If the first decoy failed to entice a wild brought goose hunting within the reach of flock within the range of the gunner, others the masses, fig. 49. Heavy competition for were released from the pit until the wild the better hunting places ensued. The de- geese decoyed as desired, or the supply of mand for more hunting grounds resulted decoys was exhausted. Only a small per- in the development of field shooting. centage of captive geese behaved in such a Long before baiting came into promi- manner as to make good decoys. These nence, goose hunters recognized that no geese became as valuable an aid in goose other type of feed was more attractive to hunting as well-trained bird dogs are in geese than a large field of fall-planted wheat quail hunting, and commanded equally high or rye. As soon as the weather turned cold, prices on the market. The function of live however, shelled and ear corn, wheat ker- decoys was to attract the geese, while that nels, cowpeas, and similar feeds, when of feed was to hold them and to encourage properly scattered, proved very attractive the birds to return again. to the geese, although their desire for greens One answer to increased hunting pres- continued. sure was the formation of goose hunting

Table 10.—Goose hunting regulations as they applied to Alexander County, Illinois, 1927-1945.

Year Bulletin Vol. Art. 3 134 Illinois Natural History Survey 25,

cialization of goose shooting. clubs, but since the time of the Egyptian Mediocre Hunting and Fishing Club, organized in farm lands located near the refuge suddenly commanded fancy prices. almost every 1904, goose clubs have changed considerably Now field located around the refuge contains pits in Alexander County. Present-day clubs, blinds during the hunting season, figs. with a few exceptions, are strictly commer- and 51. cial. In contrast, this first club (which had 50 and annual dues of only $5) was a nonprofit organization. At one time, it boasted a Data obtained from veteran hunters on local hunters. In membership of 50, all the number of geese killed along the Mis- 1941, there were at least two dozen clubs sissippi River in the eighties and later have in Alexander County, each of which, ac- been too contradictory to permit any de- cording to a direct comparison of kill rec- finite conclusions. None of the informa- ords, killed more geese annually than did that the Egyptian Club. tion obtained, however, indicates the Goose hunting first took on a commercial kills made in those early years exceeded aspect when in 1913 a Chicago business man recent kills at Horseshoe Lake. A sum- began to lease the sand bars most fre- mary of hunting regulations as they geese. most quently used by the By 1916, applied to geese in Alexander County is bars were no longer open to public of these given in table 10. The relationship hunting. Up to that time field shooting had between number of hours of open season, been scorned by most real goose hunters. number of geese bagged, and hourly kill Now that the river shooting was largely per season is shown in figs. 52 and 53. under the control of a few men it was field shooting or nothing for the old timers. Neither the hourly bag nor the seasonal The purchase of Horseshoe Lake for a bag shows significant correlation with the refuge in 1927 created a boom in commer- number of hours open to hunting.

o 180

- HOURLY BAG OF GEESE - HOURS OPEN TO HUNTING

•o o a

1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 YEAR

Fig. 52.— Hourly bag of Canada geese and number of hours open to hunting in Alexander County, Illinois, 1927-1945. March, 1950 Hansox & Smith: Canada Geese 135

S 10000

i, 5000- CD i 4000-

3000

2000

1000

1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 YEAR

Fig. 53.—Seasonal bag of Canada geese and number of hours open to hunting in Alexa County, Illinois, 1927-1945.

ANNUAL BAG controlled to insure preservation of the Canada goose population. Insofar as In recent years the annual kill by hun- management of Mississippi flyway Canada ters of Mississippi flyway Canada geese geese is concerned, the annual bag has has probably exceeded losses resulting two subdivisions: the bag made by. In- from any other single cause. The hunter dians on the breeding grounds in Canada, kill includes the geese bagged and those and the bag made by hunters in southern so severely crippled by gunfire that they Canada and the United States while the soon die. geese are in migration or in the vicinity of

Hochbaum ( 1'544) has pointed out that the wintering areas. the ratio of the number of hunters to ducks is such that it is mathematically On Breeding Grounds possible for the licensed hunters legally Man is believed to be the predator to exterminate the continental duck popu- taking the heaviest toll of Canada geese lation in one season. In the case of the on the breeding grounds. Responsible for Horseshoe Lake flock of Canada geese, the the bulk of the take in the James Bay threat of extirpation has been real. If area are the Cree Indians, natives of the hunting in Alexander County, Illinois, region ; the handful of white residents also had been permitted for the duration of kill a few geese. Food is the primary con- the full 80-day waterfoul season either sideration for killing geese in the North ; in 1944 or 1945. that population might any sport involved only adds flavor to have been reduced to a remnant, fig. 54. the undertaking. Of all mortality factors, the bag by In the James Bay and Hudson Bay area hunters is the one that can be most easilv the native populations are dependent on —

Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 136 Illinois Natural History Survey 3 waterfowl as one of the few- reliable no data regarding Churchill, but we con- sources of meat; big game animals are clude from Barnston's report that the usually scarce and small game is subject white-fronted goose was shot in fair num- to violent cyclic fluctuations in numbers. bers by the Churchill Indians. It seems '1 he importance of waterfowl, particular- certain that snow geese and lesser Canada ly geese, to the Cree Indians in former g;ese also contributed to the total kill in

iit .r^mcrivt*y

Fig. 54. The registered kill of Canada geese (1,400) on opening day at hunting clubs near Horseshoe Lake in 1945 was approximately equivalent to the number of geese shown in this illustration. (Photograph taken at the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge by George W. Sommers.)

years can be readily realized from Barns- that area. In recent years at Moose ton's report (1862). He estimated the Factory, Fort Albany, Attawapiskat, figs. annual kills of all species of geese on the 55 and 56, and VVeenusk, the annual kill west coast of James Bay and the south of geese has consisted chiefly of blue geese coast of Hudson Bay as follows: Moose and snow geese, with running a Factory district, 10,000 annually; York poor third. At Fort York, the annual Factory and Churchill district and region kill of Richardson's geese, Branta hut- to the north, 10,000; Fort Albany district, chmsii, equals the combined kill of snow, 17,000 to 20,000 in the autumn and blue, and Canada geese ; the Canadas are 10,000 in the spring; Fort Severn district, outnumbered in the native hunter's bag 10,000. at this post by the "wavies." The species of geese that made up the Big game represents an unpredictable bag at these posts must have varied con- source of food for the present-day Indian. siderably then as they do today. We have In the early part of this century, caribou, March. 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 137

Fig. 55.— Attauapiskat, Ontario, summer, 1947. The Crce Indians of the James Bay region gather at such coastal posts as this soon after the breakup of the rivers in spring. In late summer or autumn they return to their inland trapping grounds. Those who trap far inland leave be- fore the autumn hunt for blue geese and snow geese begins along the coastal marshes.

Fig. 56.—Summer scene at ,\ttauai)iskai. .\tter a luiij; '.\iiucr of arduous trapping and hunt- ing, often entailing considerable hardship, the native Indians are usually content to summer quietly at or near the coastal trading posts. Vol. Art. lJi8 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 25, 3 perhaps the barren-grounds type, migrated When the long and dreary winter has fully expended itself, and the willow grouse along the west coast of Hudson and James (Tetrao Saliceti) have taken their depar- bays as far south as Fort Albany. They ture for more northern regions, there is are now gone except for a small band at frequently a period of dread starvation to Henrietta Maria, which may rep- Cape many of the natives, who are generally at group. resent remnants of this migratory that time moving from their wintering Woodland caribou are found scattered grounds to the trading posts. The first over the muskeg country in small bands, note, therefore, of the large gray or Canada but their total numbers are not great. goose ( canadensis) is listened to with

Fig. 57.—Through the establishment of a system of preserves and regulated trapping, beaver populations in the Hudson-James bay region are gradually being restored to former levels. Besides furnishing many pounds of highly nutritious meat and thereby reducing the hunting pressure by Indians on waterfowl, also improve the character of small streams as brooding areas for Canada geese. This illustration shows a beaver dam on Little Partridge Creek, which empties into the southwest corner of James Bay. The tall trees that border the stream are black spruce; the principal shrubs are willow, alder, and sweet gale.

Moose, always quite abundant in the a rapture known only to those who have country just south of James Bay, were endured great privations and gnawing hun- scarce in the muskeg belt lying west of ger. The melancholy visages brighten, and the filled with hope, to which joy the bay until 1946 and 1947, when there tents are soon succeeds, as the happy father, or the was an unprecedented influx of these hopeful son and brother, returning success- animals, presumably from the south and ful from the hunt, throws down with west. On the whole, however, except for satisfaction and pride the grateful load. the waterfowl he kills in spring and autumn, the James Bay Indian must rely Although the economic plight of the on small game, such as snowshoe hares, Indian has been gradually improved , grouse, and ptarmigan for his from those early times, particularly in re- meat supply. When these cyclic species cent years, through Dominion government fail he is usually in dire straits. Barnston family allowance, government relief, and (1862) wrote: liberal credit at the fur posts, the first I March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Canada Geese 139

arrival of geese in the spring is always an The spring kill of the Canada goose event of great importance. Bishop Robert west of James Bay takes place inland J. Renison of the Diocese of Moosonee when the Indians are still on their tiap- relates one of the highlights of his early ping grounds and the rivers are frozen years as Anglican minister at Fort Al- over. Hunting is done from blinds or bany. A funeral service had just been stands built of brush and set out on the held at the small church and the mourners, cold, sick, discouraged, and hungry after a long winter, were moving on snowshoes toward the cemetery (Renison 1944).

The Missionary walked in front, tread- ing warily among the tents where husky dogs prowled, on his way to the little grave yard where two men with pickaxes had been for hours chipping the frozen earth deep enough to make a shallow trench. Al- though in the morning the whole scene looked and felt like the ragged end of win- ter, now the South wind grows warmer every moment and already the haze is seen in quivering waves over the melting ice and snow. As the cortege was lost in the maze of wigwams, suddenly the cry of wild geese was heard. The funeral procession stood still and from all over the settlement came the answering call from every living soul. A great flock of Canada grey geese swept like a gigantic airplane over the trees re- joicing at what seemed a welcoming call. The phalanx turned to leeward and sailed slowly down over the spot from which the sounds came. It was too much even for sorrow and decorum. The Chief Mourner dived into his tent and appeared in a moment

V. ith his loaded gun. With incredible ease and grace he brought down a goose with each barrel. Cheers and laughter rang out. The oldest instinct of man triumphed in every simple heart and as the pallbearer"; patted the bereaved husband on the back, he modestly replied like a true sportsman, "She

did it. I always had luck when she was Fig. 58.—Decoys made by Cree Indians with me." Then the spell was broken ; the hunting in Hannah Bay at the south end of procession resumed its direction. James Bay. The decoy in the top picture was The recent increase of beaver through made of willow twigs; the lifelike decoy in picture made from a log and a restocking and the establishment uf bea\er the lower was charred stick. preser\es on the west side of James Bay

will, now that trapping is open, add thou- sands of pounds of highly nutritious meat river ice. Decoys made of willow twigs to the Indian food resources, fig. 57. Since or small stumps or blocks of wood of beaver and most of the Canada geese are proper size are set up in such a way as secured in early spring, beaver restoration to bear a crude resemblance to a flock of will materially reduce the annual toll of sitting geese, fig. 58. Often using in- geese. This shift in hunting pressure is re- ferior arms with hand-loaded shells, the ported to have taken place in the Rupert native hunters easily overcome the handi- House country where beaver trapping has caps of poor equipment by their expert recenth been on a sustained-vield basis. ability to call geese, an art practiced from —

History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 140 Illinois Natural

the aid of an inter- childhood. In late summer, some of the native hunters with Indians supplement their meager diet by preter, fig. 60. In some cases it appeared hunting ducks along the coast, fig. 59, that the hunter questioned could remem- of current year and while in autumn most of the hunters are her his exact bag the of the previous year. In many other cases, in the coastal marshes for blue geese and

Fig. 59. Indian encampnnent on Cape Henrietta Maria. The Indians of this group trade at the Lake River outpost, but visit Attawapiskat briefly in the summer. Before autumn, they return to the cape to hunt waterfowl.

snow geese, hoping to accumulate a supply it was equally obvious that the hunter of meat for at least a part of the winter. could remember only the approximate Any Canada geese killed at these times are number of geese killed and bagged, as he incidental to the hunt for "wavies," as gave figures in multiples of 5 or 10. The then the latter outnumber the Canadas inherent tendency to exaggerate in giving along the coast by the ratio of many "rounded off" figures introduces con- hundred to one. siderable error. Therefore, we believe Our bag data were secured from post that the data in table 11 may exceed the managers and other informed residents actual bag by perhaps 10 to 15 per cent. and through direct questioning of the A few Indians, fortunate enough to March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 141 M'^

Fig. 60.—The number of Canada geese killed by Indians was calculated trom intorination secured through personal interviews with native hunters. The hunter being questioned here, with the aid of an interpreter, is a member of the Ogoki band. Sixteen hunters of this band were interviewed in 1946 and the same number the following year. The total number of Cree hunters interviewed was 94 in 1946 and 171 in 1947.

Table 11.—Number of Cree Indian hunters, average bag per hunter, and total calculated bag of Canada geese by native hunters residing in the breeding range of the Mississippi Valley goose population, 1946 and 1947.

Average Calculated Number of Bag Bag Fur Trade Post and Total Hunters per per Hunter Trapping Indian Trapping Number Interviewed Interviewed Territory OF TERRiToay Hunters 1946 1947 1946 1947 1946 1947

Ogoki 16 16 16 3.0 3.6 48 56 Fort .'\lbany fincluding Kapis- kau and Ghost River out- posts) 100 24 67 9.S 11.1 950 1,110 .Attawapiskat' (including Lake River outpost and .^kimiski Island) 134 28 31 13.3 15.6 1,782 2,090 Wecnusk 33 31 1S.0« 19.0 495 627 Fort Severn 47 26 26 14.0 17.0 658 799 Total 330 94 t7t 65.0 66.3 3,933 4,68S Average 13.0 13.1

'The bag at AttawapUkat in 1948 was 1.720 according to Dr. John Honigman. resident anthropologist at the post that year (personal communication). ' An estimate, based on data for later year. 142 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 ha\c their trapping grounds located in indicate that the annual bag of the na- good Canada goose hunting territories, tives is about 5 to 6 per cent of the avail- bag as many as 45 geese per hunter, while able population. Taking into considera- other Indians, located in poor goose tion the kind of error inherent in these habitat, take only a few geese or rione. data, it would seem that the Indians do In 1944, when the inventory showed that not kill more than 10 per cent of the there were approximately 66,000 geese in Canada goose population that reaches the the Mississippi fl\way, the estimated bag breeding grounds in the spring. on the breeding grounds was 5,500, or The time of kill of Canada geese by about 8 per cent of the number of birds Indians on the breeding grounds is in- believed to have been available to the dicated in fig. 61. Indians in the spring of that year. In 1946 and 1947, the calculated bag, table Southern Canada and United States 11, represented about 10 and 9 per cent, Available data on the goose bag in the respectively, of the total population avail- United States and in southern Canada are able in the springs of those years, table very unsatisfactory. Goose bag records 7. Band recoveries, on the other hand. from Illinois are more nearly complete

60-1

50-

40- > O o UJ tC 30- oli-

20- GO

3 _;

10-

::s APR. MAY JUNE JULY ¥ AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. MONTH OF RECOVERY

Fig. 61.—Time of kill of Canada geese by Indians on the breeding grounds, as shown by re- covery records, 1941-19-f7, of geese banded at the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Gkese 143

Table 12.—Estimated ba^ of Canada geese in regions frequented by the Mississippi Valley population, 1941-1945.

Estimated Province, State, or Other Area Mean Bag

West coast of James B 4,700 Ontario, exclusive of James Bay region 400 Minnesota 200 Wisconsin 620 Michigan 000 Indiana 500 Illinois 8^400 OhI 200 Iowa 75 Missouri 260 Arkansas 300 Kentucky 50 Tennessee 100 Mississippi 400 Louisiana (eastern p.irt onlyj 150 Total 19,355

than those from any other state, in part ville, in Essex County, has been a heavy because of a law that requires all licenced concentration point for Canada geese for clubs to keep daily records of their take over 20 years, no commercial shooting and in part because only a small number of clubs have operated in the fields sur- areas in the state afford goose hunting. rounding the sanctuary. All of the

Most states in the fl\-\vay, however, at- hunting in the Kingsville area is re- tempt to calculate the take, either from ported to be flight shooting from public

report cards attached to the hunting li- roads as the geese go to and from the

censes ( the cards are designed to be mailed sanctuar\' and their roosting grounds on to a state official at the end of the season) Lake Erie, or from data obtained from questionnaires The number of banded geese reported sent to a sample of the licensed hunters. taken in this area does not indicate the A few states make no attempt to secure true size of the bag since some of the bag data. local shooters do not appreciate the im- Bag data based on the hunter-report- portance of the banding program at the card system are apt to be e.xaggerated. Miner Sanctuary and do not report the Studies made by Bellrose (1947) ha\e bands they recover. shown that the state-wide bag of ducks in When live decoys and baited fields were

Illinois calculated from report cards is permitted, the autumn bag in Essex- several times the actual bag. In AViscon- County was about 1,000 birds, but, since sin, the calculated bag of Canada geese these practices were outlawed, the bag for two counties has been from 3.5 to 4.6 has probably not exceeded 500 and fre- times the actual bag (see section on Wis- quentlv is as low as 200 or 300 birds. consin, below). Furthermore, as many We are informed that the 1945 kill was states do not record the goose bag b\' unusually low, not over 50 geese. species, the actual portion of the calculated We are told that near the Miner Sanc- bag that consists of Canada geese can only tuary it is possible to bag geese easily only be estimated. on days when there is a heavy overcast and Table 12 summarizes our information a strong wind is blowing, thus causing the on the Canada goose bag in recent years ge«se to fly low. On most days the geese in those regions that lie in the Mississippi are reported to be well out of gun range flyway. A more detailed anal\sis of the when they pass over the hunters who shoot bag follows. on the perimeter of the protected area, Southern Ontario.— In spite of the the radius of which extends 1 mile beyond fact that the Miner Sanctuary, at Kings- the sanctuary property. History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 144 Illinois Natural

geese banded Table 13.—Recoveries in the Mississippi flyway,* 1925-1944, of Canada each autumn and winter at Kingsville, Ontario. March, 1950 Hansox & Smith: Canada Geese 145

Table 15.—Annual shooting losses of Canada geese in the region of Horseshoe Lake, 1941-1945.

Hunting Season . . .

146 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

counties represented by 159 cording to H. J. Miller of the Michigan Various Department of Conservation. banded Canada geese shot in Michigan, The figures given in table 16 are not 1925-1944, are shown in table 17. comparable from year to year, because the number of between 1938 and 1944 Table 17.—Recoveries of Canada geese in licensed hunters sending in bag reports to Michigan, 1925-1944, banded at Horseshoe the Department of Conservation dropped Lake, Illinois, and at the Jack Miner Bird from 65 to 20 per cent. Because success- Sanctuary, Kingsville, Ontario. ful hunters are more apt to turn in their report cards than unsuccessful hunters, Number Number the accuracy of the computed kill varies COUN OF Ri CouN OF Re- from year to year. Excluding from table COVERIES coveries 16 the probable bag of blue geese and Allegan . . . . 31 Presque Isle. . snow geese and taking into consideration Berrien 16 Alpena exaggeration inherent in calculating state- Barry 13 Benzie wide bags from hunter report cards, we Huron 12 Lenawee

Kalam.izoo. 12 Livingston. . . . estimate that the annual kill of Canada Calhoun. . . . 11 Otsego geese in Michigan from 1938 through Sanilac 10 Gratiot

1944 was between 1,000 and 3,000 birds. Monroe. . . . 5 Gladwin

In 1945, the total calculated bag of all St. Joseph. . 5 GrandTraver.se

Van Buren . 4 Saginaw species of geese was more than 23,000. Of Chippewa. . 4 Roscommon. this number, well over half consisted of St. Clair. . . . 4 Luce blue geese and snow geese (Dr. Miles D. Mackinac. . . 3 Kent Pirnie of Michigan State College, per- Cas.s 3 Oscoda Washtenaw. 2 Lapeer sonal communication) that failed to make Wayne 2 Eaton their usual rapid southward migration Newaygo . . . 2 Lake and that were observed and shot in un- usual numbers. The large number of Total recoveries. 150 banded geese reported shot in Michigan in the autumn of 1945 does, however, fur- nish undeniable evidence that there was Whatever the actual bag of Canada a large increase in the total bag of Canada- geese is in a given year in Michigan, it geese in that year over the number bagged probably is not all at the expense of the between 1938 and 1944. Of 20 Canada Mississippi flyway population, as some geese banded at Horseshoe Lake between geese belonging to the Southeast popula- 1940-41 and 1944-45 and bagged in tion undoubtedly are bagged as they Michigan, table 14, 13 were bagged in the migrate down the eastern edge of the autumn of 1945. state. The following Michigan counties, Wisconsin.—Band recoveries, table which are in the vicinity of important 14, indicate that Wisconsin is second autumn concentration points and winter- only to Illinois in the toll its hunters take ing areas, yielded the largest bags of geese of the Horseshoe Lake flock. The largest of all species: Chippewa County in the kills of Canada geese in Wisconsin are northern peninsula; Leelanau County in made in Rock and Walworth counties, the northwest sector of the lower peninsu- in the vicinity of the Rock County Refuge. la; Huron, Tuscola, and Bay counties Geese in the Rock-Walworth county bordering Saginaw Bay; and Allegan, area show little of the lameness exhibited Kalamazoo, Barry, Berrien, and Calhoun by the Horseshoe Lake flock. On leaving counties in the southwestern lake section. the refuge on the upland prairie for their According to Dr. Miles D. Pirnie of roost lakes, they are said generally to Michigan State College (personal com- spiral high up out of gun range before munication in 1945) between 500 and crossing over its boundaries, thus account- 1,000 Canada geese were bagged within ing in part for the relatively small kill, a 20-mile radius of the W. K. Kellogg which is equivalent to about 8 per cent Refuge, Barrv and Kalamazoo counties, of the geese that are present in these two in 1944. counties in late autumn and winter. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese ;47

Careful estimates of annual bags in the hunters, ranged from 1,869 to 5,050 birds. Rock County Refuge area by personnel of As in Michigan, the 1945 calculated bag., tlie Wisconsin Conservation Department for all geese was the largest on record,,, and the United States Fish and Wildlife 10,908. Service, 1940-1945, did not exceed 4U0 Ohio.—We have few- kill data for Ohio birds; the average annual bag was con- otiier than band recoveries. The princi- siderably less. ^Visconsin Conservation pal kills of importance to Mississippi fly- Department estimates for the probable way geese would be those made in the and maximum Canada goose bags in these region of Lake St. Marys. Kills made in counties are as follows: central and eastern Ohio would be pri- 1940—200 marily at the expense of the Southeast fly- 1941 —75, not exceeding 150 way geese. We have arbitrarily placed 1942—317, not exceeding 400 the bag of Mississippi flyway Canada 1943—150, not exceeding 20U geese in Ohio at 200 per annum. 1944—40, not exceeding 50 Indiana.—According to William B. 1945—350, not exceeding 400 Barnes of the Indiana Department of When the above estimates are compared Conservation, goose hunting in Indiana with the bags calculated from hunters' is heaviest in the Kankakee region of report cards (1940, 732; 1941, 581; 1942, northwestern Indiana and in the lake dis- 1,445; 1943, 629), it appears that the trict to the east. As the flights move annual calculated bags are exaggerated through northern Indiana to the south- 3.5 to 4.6 times. These calculated bags west, additional shooting is provided in are derived from a sample of the kill the Wabash River valley. Hunting pres- cards sent in by about 35 per cent of the sure in this state appears to be, on the licensed hunters. If the calculated state- whole, relatively moderate. Of the total wide bags reported by the Wisconsin number of recoveries of geese banded at Conservation Department are exagger- the Miner Sanctuary during the autumn ated to the same degree as are bags for in the past 20 years, approximately 8 per Rock and ^Val worth counties (3.5 times), cent have been from Indiana, table 13. the corrected state-wide annual bag of At Hovey Lake Refuge about 300 Canada geese in Wisconsin between 1932 Canada geese are generally present during and 1944 has averaged about 500 birds the open hunting period, and the largest and varied from about 170 (1935) to 860 bag in any one season in a 5-year period, (1942). If our method of estimating 1940—1944, was only five birds, 1.6 per the state-wide bag is sound, it appears cent of the flock. Partly responsible for that the annual kill of Canada geese in this small bag was the wildness exhibited Wisconsin has seldom approached the by the geese in the refuge vicinity. thousand mark. Judging from questionnaire answers Important kills have also been reported received from hunters by the Indiana for Waushara County. The bag in this Department of Conservation, it is doubt- county in 1942 was estimated by Zimmer- ful if the kill of Canada geese in Indiana man (1942) to be 400. The total num- in recent years has ever greatly exceeded ber of migrant geese that offered shooting 2,000 birds and probably in most years to hunters in this area is unknown. the kill is considerably less than this figure. Minnesota.— Most of the Canada Iowa.—According to Bruce F. Stiles goose hunting in Minnesota is said to of the Iowa State Conservation Commis- occur in the western third of the state, sion, the yearly kill of Canada geese in especially during the wet years. Kills in the Iowa is about 1,200 birds. He states that eastern sections rarely occur, so that the the heaviest migration is down the Mis- total bag of the Mississippi flyway geese souri River valley. As band recoveries in Minnesota is probably small. The lack indicate that central and western Iowa of band recoveries from eastern Minnesota is well west of the migration routes of the substantiates this belief. From 1935 Mississippi fl\way population, only a small through 1944, the computed state-wide portion of the above kill would be at the bags of all species of geese, based on re- expense of this population. The paucity ports received from 10 per cent of the of band recoveries from eastern Iowa, 148 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 tables 13 and 14 and figs. 13-21, signifies cate that only the kills made in the western that few Mississippi flyway geese mi- portion of the state would be from the grating through this sector of the state stop Mississippi Valley population. Band re- en route long enough to afford much shoot- coveries show that since 1940 the annual ing. bag of Mississippi Valley geese in this Missouri.—The Missouri Conserva- state has been greatly reduced, table 13. tion Commission estimates that, prior to In 1939 and 1940, Paul S. Smith estimated the establishment of the Horseshoe Lake that about 100 geese from the Horseshoe Game Refuge, approximately 75,000 Lake flock were bagged in Kentucky; in Canada geese wintered on the sand bars more recent years, band recoveries and and islands of the Mississippi River be- the findings of reliable observers indicate tween Ste. Genevieve and Caruthersville, that very few geese from the Horseshoe Missouri. Band recoveries, table 13, Lake flock have been shot in Kentucky. with the exception of returns from 1935 Tennessee and Mississippi.—The through 1939, indicate no pronounced section of the Mississippi River bordering change in the Missouri kills in relation to Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi may the Illinois kills since 1925. Before 1941, be considered as a single unit insofar as when the geese using the Horseshoe Lake the kill of Canada geese using the river Game Refuge were reported to have made bars is concerned. In 1943, it was esti- daily flights to the river bars, considerably mated that not over 50 geese were killed larger kills are said to have been made on and in the vicinity of the Tennessee in Cape Girardeau, Scott, and Mississippi section. It is the belief of W. F. counties than in more recent years. Band- Dearman, formerly director of the Mis- recovery data indicate that this period of sissippi Department of Fish and Game, higher kills was between 1935 and 1939. that the 1943 bag for his state along the The yearly bags, estimated for the above Mississippi River was approximately 800. counties by Paul S. Smith, are given in Arkansas.—Kills of Canada geese in table 15. According to information re- eastern Arkansas, exclusive of the Mis- ceived from M. O. Steen of the Missouri sissippi River, are made over such an ex- Conservation Commission, the annual tensive area and in such relatively small bags in Missouri in the region of Cape numbers in any given locality that it is Girardeau, Scott, and Mississippi counties difficult to make an accurate appraisal of averaged approximately 175 geese in re- the over-all loss. In 1943, the bag was cent hunting years. about 400, and in 1945 it was probably State-wide annual bags, 1943—1945, even lower. After talking with hunters, are estimated to have been less than 400 employees of hunting clubs, and em- birds. Besides the bag in southeastern ployees of local cold-storage plants, we Missouri, about 125 geese were killed on concluded that the bag of Canada geese the Missouri River between Booneville in the Stuttgart region in 1945 did not and Jefferson City in central Missouri, exceed 200. and approximately 100 were killed in the Louisiana.—In 1943, losses of Canada vicinity of Swan Lake National Refuge geese through hunting in the delta and in the north central part of the state. coastal marshes were estimated to be However, on the basis of present evidence, approximately 1,000. Of this number it would appear that the geese killed in about 150 were estimated to be Mis- central Missouri belong to the Eastern sissippi flyway geese; the greater portion Prairie population and are not Mississippi of the Canada goose population in Louisi- flyway birds. Considerable numbers of ana is in the western portion of the state Canada geese are reported to migrate and probably belongs to the Eastern through central and southwestern Mis- Prairie population. souri in the autumn, and it seems reason- able to conclude that they winter in west- Total Annual Bag ern Louisiana and eastern Texas. Before sound management measures Kentucky. — Little information is can be instituted for the Mississippi available in regard to the state-wide kill Valley Canada geese, the over-all kill in in Kentucky, though band recoveries indi- the population must be known within March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 149

fairly close limits. We do not have com- estimated combined total of all hunting plete data on the kill, but a reasonably losses for 1943-44 was 23,350. accurate appraisal can be made from avail- Inventory figures plus hunting losses able information. for 1943—1-4 (omitting the spring Indian Table 12, summarizing bag data con- kill which occurs after the inventory) in- tained in previous discussions, is fairly dicate that the Horseshoe Lake popula- accurate in some instances and in others tion that left the breeding grounds in the represents very rough estimation. It autumn of 1943, and subsequentl.\' eluded should be remembered that the lowest and death from other causes during the follow- highest bags for the various areas repre- ing 6 to 8 months' period, was roughly sented did not occur in the same calendar 56,650. Thus, total losses through hunt- year; hence, totals for those respective ing (including spring losses in Canada) columns do not represent annual extremes. are computed to have been about 41 per It would appear from table 12 that the cent of the geese that survived death from average annual bag in the flyway, 1941— natural causes. When crippling losses are 1945, was somewhere in the neighborhood deducted, it appears that hunters bagged of 19,000 birds. about 30 per cent of the geese that sur- The annual loss of geese through hunt- vived death from natural causes. ing, expressed as a percentage of the Over-all loss rates due to hunting for population that left the breeding grounds 1944-45 and 1945-46, calculated in a in the autumn, may be roughly estimated* similar manner, were approximately 39 for the Horseshoe Lake flock and the fly- and 40 per cent, respectively, of the way population as a whole. population that survived other types of The number of geese calculated to escape mortality. death from natural causes after leaving Hunting losses for the flyway popula- the breeding grounds and to be subjected tion as a whole, as might be expected, were to hunters' guns may be arrived at by at a considerably lower rate than for the adding known hunting losses to inventory Horseshoe Lake flock. In some recent figures after the hunting season. For years, the bag of geese in the flyway has example, the Horseshoe Lake flock num- been about 19,000, table 12. In some of bered about 37,000 geese at the time of the same years, inventory figures, table the 1943—14 inventory, table 9. Local 7, indicate an average population of ap- losses in the Horseshoe Lake area, in- proximately 60,000. If the bag prior to cluding crippling, were approximately inventory (roughly 14,600) and the over- 16,000 geese, table 9. Assuming that all crippling, arbitrarily placed at 25 per losses between the Canadian border and cent (total 18,250), are added to the ap- Horseshoe Lake were average that year, proximately 60,000 surviving at inven- an additional 3,250 geese (2,600, a figure tory, an original population of 78,250 is based on band recoveries, plus an assumed indicated. Thus, of all flyway geese that 25 per cent crippling rate) were lost. survived natural mortality during recent The autumn kill by the Indians on the hunting periods, at least 23 per cent are breeding grounds is small, fig. 61, as is estimated to have succumbed to hunters. also the kill by white hunters in southern Canada. Including crippling losses of 25 Canada vs. LJnited States Kill per cent, the combined kill may be in the Are the people of Canada, especially neighborhood of 800 birds, about half of the Indians and Eskimos, getting an un- which would be contributed by potential justifiably large share of the Mississippi Horseshoe Lake geese. Of the 37,000 flyway Canada goose population ? Many geese leaving Horseshoe Lake in the hunters in the United States would like spring, approximately 8 per cent are to believe that such is the case. However, bagged by the natives plus an estimated investigators (Soper 1930, Sutton 1932, additional 2 per cent lost through crip- Brandt 1943, Gillham 1948) of bird life pling, or a total of 3,700 geese lost. The in the far north believe that in most in- stances the future of waterfowl popula- • Accur.icy of the following estimstions is in Urge tions in arctic and subarctic regions is not measure dependent on the accuracy of inventory figures used in the computations. threatened by the kills made by the native 150 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

peoples. It is their belief that the fate concluded to be 10 to 12 per cent of the of waterfowl populations breeding in the population available in any year. north will be decided by the treatment ac- A rough measure of the bag contributed corded them on their wintering grounds. by the flock between the Canadian border We likewise believe that the future of the and the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge can Mississippi Valley population is dependent be derived from an analysis of band re- on the protection and care it is given south coveries. Between 1941 and 1944, the of the breeding range. number of band recoveries from north of On the breeding grounds of the Mis- the refuge was equivalent to 33 per cent sissippi Valley Canada geese, there has of the number of recoveries in the region been a decrease, in recent years, in the of Horseshoe Lake 1 or more years after number of Indians dependent upon the banding. The number of geese to termi- game resources of the country. After nate their migrations at Horseshoe Lake, World War I, many of the Fort Albany 1941-1944, averaged about 45,000. The Indians moved to new trapping grounds known bag by licensed clubs in Alexander far into the interior. According to Dr. County in those years averaged 7,780, table 15. Figures based on estimates T. J. Orford, formerly Indian agent at from Moose Factory, in 1945 there were 124 band recoveries in 1941—1944 indicate that Indians from the Fort Albany band at Lac the flock contributed an average yearly bag Seul, a locality to which they had moved of about 2,600 birds before reaching the in the 1920's. There was another exodus refuge, or a loss of about 5 to 6 per cent of Fort Albany Indians from the James of the numbers that crossed the Canadian Bay area in 1942 when 150 transferred to border. As the Horseshoe Lake flock in the Constance Lake band on the Canadian recent years has comprised about 50 per National Railway line. Additional Indian cent of the Mississippi flyway population, families moved down to Moosonee from the bag of Horseshoe Lake geese (2,600) Fort Albany and Attawapiskat during the computed from band recoveries for areas years of World War II. As a result of between the Canadian border and the these movements, Indian hunting pressure refuge should, if doubled (5,200),* on wildlife in the James Bay area has approximately equal the bag of all Mis- decreased. In contrast, the number of sissippi flyway geese in the same area. hunters shooting Canada geese in the Calculations from data in table 12 indicate United States, notably in Illinois, has in- that the estimated mean annual bag for creased tremendously since World War I. states in the flyway north of Horseshoe Data in table 12 show that the take in Lake (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Canada, 1941-1945, was roughly 25 per Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, t and Iowa) for cent of the total bag of Mississippi Valley 1941-1945 is 5,695, a figure close to the geese. When it is remembered that the bag figure approximated from band re- Indians are partly dependent on geese for coveries and from inventory figures and survival, that their kill is not a new drain bag data from the Horseshoe Lake area. on the goose population, and that in recent A check of band-recovery records for the years the kill has been found to be pro- period 1925-1944 shows that most geese portional to the goose population, this kill bagged in this area were killed in Novem- cannot be considered excessive. ber, fig. 62. The relative kill by the Indians and by In the fall of 1943, when hunters hunters outside the breeding grounds in between the Horseshoe Lake region and Canada and in the United States can be the Canadian border bagged between 5 and found by comparing the number of geese 6 per cent of the Mississippi flyway geese killed by each group to the total number of birds available to each. It was shown * This figure, based on a comparison of band-recovery rates, may be low for two reasons: (1) the percentage of earlier that the Indians kill about 10 per hunters reporting bands ihey recover is probably lower over most of the flyway than it is at Horse-hoe Lake, cent or less of the goose population avail- where the importance of reporting bands has been well able to them. As the kill in Canada away publicized, and (2) the geese that spend the greater part of the hunting sea on north of the refuge are subject to from the breeding grounds is estimated heavier shooting pressure in that region than are the Horseshoe Lake gee-e in the short time they are there._ as not exceeding 1 or 2 per cent of the t The figure for Illinois (about 1,100) does not in- population, the total Canadian kill is clude the bag for the Horseshoe Lake area. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese LSI available to them, hunters in the region Various explanations of the change of Horseshoe Lake bagged 23 per cent of [waterfowl decrease] are given. The the total number of geese attaining the blame is laid on the market shooter, on the supposed destruction of birds and refuge in the fall and winter of 1943-44. eggs on the northern breeding grounds, and on Figures for the Horseshoe Lake region, as supposed changes in the lines of flight by calculated from data in tables 9 and 15, are nu'grating birds, but most gunners are un- cent for 1943-44, 19 per cent for 23 per willing to accept the logic of events and 1944-45, and 18 per cent for 1945-46. to acknowledge that the principal cause of It is desirable at this point to discuss a the lessened number of the fowl lies with type of rumor at times common among the gunners themselves, and is an inevitable waterfowl hunters. During the 1944 accompaniment of civilization, not to be hunting season, several hunters at Horse- changed except by radical measures of the grotesquely shoe Lake expressed the opinion that, if One most fantastic explanations of the scarcity of wildfowl the ducks and geese needed further protec- was put forth several years ago in the news- tion, the Indians in Canada should be papers: . . . This story told of an enormous prohibited from gathering and selling duck destruction of wildfowl eggs in the North- goose eggs to a company manufactur- and west for commercial purposes; millions of pancake flour. 1 hat this kind of com- ing shiploads and trainloads of such eggs, it was plaint is an old stor)" and has no basis in gravely related, being annually gathered in fact was shown by Grinnell (1901). Alaska and British America, and shipped

10-20 21-31 -10 11-20 21-30 10 11-20 21-31 -10 OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER JAN.

Fig. 62.—Time of kill of Canada geese in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana, as shown by recovery records of Canada geese banded at the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge and the Jack .Miner Bird Sanctuary and recovered in the period 1925-1944. Migration dates and the time of most hunting seasons combined to make November the month of heaviest kill. History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 152 Illinois Natural

if the kill in each of thence to points in the East, where they were annually, but also manufactured into albumen cake. . . . the various age and sex groups is propor- This, then, was the conclusion of the tional to its size in the group, and if the to have whole matter: Those who professed kill places an undue burden on any partic- were unable to information on the subject ular component. One of the causes of stories which they told; substantiate the concern relative to Canada goose shooting the transportation companies have carried at Horseshoe Lake in recent years has no such eggs; none have ever been received been the disproportionately large kill of at the ports of entry; the albumen trade knows nothing whatever about them, and juvenile birds, table 23. are the underlying factors re- in view of the total lack of evidence to What support the story, there is no doubt that sponsible for a differentially heavier kill it is a pure invention. of the younger geese? One factor has already been mentioned, namely, the DIFFERENTIAL HUNTING strong bonds existing between members LOSSES of family units. Related factors are the fearlessness of j'oung geese and their To manage a wildlife species that is dependence on adults for guidance during subjected each year to heavy gun pressure, their first year of life. of juvenile age to un- it is important to know not only how The relationship many individuals of a population are shot wary behavior in Canada geese was in-

BEFORE SEASON - 1165 OBSERVATIONS 50- ^ DURING SEASON - 278 OBSERVATIONS AFTER SEASON - 699 OBSERVATIONS

O O

oUJ

a: UJ Q.

ONE TWO THREE OR MORE NUMBER IN FLOCK

Fig. 63.—Percentages of each of three size-groups (single bird, pair, group of three or more geese) in the total number of flock formations of Canada geese observed before the sea son, during the season, and after the season at Horseshoe Lake, 1945. March, 1950 Haxson & Smith: Canada Geese 153

NUMBER IN FLOCK NUMBER IN FLOCK HORSESHOE LAKE JANUARY 3, 1945 NO. OF FLOCKS, 191

23456789 40 JAMES BAY 40 ROCK COUNTY, WISCONSIN SEPTEMBER, 1944 NOVEMBER, 30 30 1945 NO OF FLOCKS, 48 .NQ OF FLOCKS, 298 20 20-

10 10- AV^RA9^ , 23456789 2345, 6789, , . NUMBER IN FLOCK NUMBER IN FLOCK

Fig. 64.— Frequency counts of flocks numbering nine or fewer geese and the average size of Canada goose flocks at four different locations. timated by Phillips (1921). "It was re- figs. 63 and b4F, G. Single juvenile birds marked by Massachusetts gunners that separated from their families were fre- there seemed to be a large proportion of quently observed to associate and feed young geese, and the same was true of with other family units, as well as with Currituck Sound, N. C, where geese also unattached adults, but they were often appeared in unusual numbers and were at the bottom of the peck order, and, as very tame. The tameness of the geese in they never appeared to be accepted into Massachusetts this past season caused the ranks of other families, they often flew comment everywhere, and I saw instances alone. of it myself." Every veteran goose hunter knows that

At Horseshoe Lake it was found that, single birds are "suckers," more readily as the shooting season progressed, the rel- decoyed than pairs or flocks. During ative number of single birds increased the 1945 season, Arthur S. Hawkins, then because of the breaking up of family units, with the Natural History Survey, and the 154 Illinois N.atur.al History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Table 18.—Number of Canada geese shot and size of flock from which they came. Observations at Horseshoe Lake in 1945.

Number IN Flock Contrib- uting to Kill .March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Canada Geese 155

Our calculations indicate that the aver- Similar lack of wariness in the other age yearling was about 2.8 times as vulner- species of geese has been noted. Brandt able to hunting by the Indians on the (1943) says of the white-fronted goose at breeding grounds as was the average adult Hooper Bay, Alaska: "And immediately

(older than 1 \ear) in the springs of 1942, after the lifting of the ice embargo these IQ43, and 1^44. groups disintegrated into mated pairs, Since the bulk of the Indian kill is made excepting small bunches of bachelor males. from .April 15 to June 1, fig. 61, 5 months These free-lance gallants, often in com- after the close of hunting in southern pany with like possibly rejected suitors

Illinois, it would seem that experience of other species of geese, spend their time gained by the young geese in that interval moving abstractedly around in inquisitive does not greatly reduce their vulnerability flocks, and are ludicrously easy to decoy."* on the breeding grounds. A crucial period Of the blue goose, Soper ( 1930) writes: that immediately follows their abandon- "With the breeding birds resuming, or ment by the adults results in continued commencing nesting duties large numbers vulnerability of the yearlings to gun pres- of nonbreeding geese were left to fly sure. aimlessly about in carefree existence dur-

There is ample evidence tiiat this aban- ing the brief span of the arctic summer. donment occurs just prior to nesting. L'n- These were the restless and irresponsible less broken up by shooting, family groups flocks and individuals which from now at Horseshoe Lake are often maintained on were to be obserxed in the Camp throughout the autumn and winter period. Kungovik locality." From observations made at his sanctuary, Tlie liigher mobility of \earling geese Jack Miner (1923) believed that goose as compared with that of nesting pairs is families do not break up until they reach a factor that may make the xoung birds the breeding grounds. This belief is sub- readily available to Indians. Nesting stantiated by the Indians, who have ob- adults are known to be extremely wary served that the young of the previous year and secretive, and, unless they are especial- are separated from the adults shortly be- ly sought after, their presence may be fore the breeding season. The breeding known only by chance. Lack of wariness adults in the captive goose flock at the on the part of yearling geese apparently Bright Land Farm near Harrington, lasts until they begin to band together. Illinois, according to Charles Kossack of In the summer, large flocks, believed to Harrington, are similarly known to drive be comprised mainly of yearlings, are ex- off their yearling \oung at nesting time. tremelv wary. "Cast oft" young geese are on their own, without the guidance of adults, and prob- ably are associated at first in small groups. CRIPPLING LOSSES One of the reasons for the differential losses are component of vulnerability of the yearlings on the As crippling a mortality, they should be con- breeding grounds was suggested in 1946 hunting sidered a part of the total yearly allow- by John Gunnar and Gilbert Faries, life- able kill in any game species. Whether long residents in the James Bay area and on the hunter's table or experienced goose hunters. They stated a goose ends up dies of wounds and furnishes a banquet that, when the first geese arrive in the for some scavenging predator, the net loss spring, many of them are very tame and flock is the same. Reduction of the curious. Gunnar volunteered the opinion to the crippling loss must always be an objective that the first arrivals are the nonbreeding utilization of a game species geese (yearlings). He recalled that on if maximum is be achieved. one occasion, while he was in the Part- to years, waterfowl shooting has ridge Creek area, a flock of inquisitive For many produce a considerable loss Canada geese decoyed within 10 feet of been known to unretrieved cripples a loss that is high his head, and he expressed the belief that of — the white garment he wore at trc time • Ii.ilic^ by llie autlior^ of this p.iper. Boardman Con- w\\n was in the Hooper Bay area with Brandt, has be- over, was responsible for tlieir curious informed the authors that many flocks exhibiting this havior. kind of behavior were composed of nonbreeding yearlings. 156 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

in proportion to the number of birds shooting was a factor certain to cause bagged. In most cases the crippling loss needless crippling and increase the total reported for ducks amounts to at least loss. 30 per cent of the number of birds bagged In 1944, a questionnaire was circulated and in some situations one duck is lost for among goose hunters to obtain their own cverv one bagged (Errington & Bennett appraisal of their shooting. During the 1933, Hawkins & Bellrose 1939, Baum- 21 -day season, 103 hunters were asked gartner 1942, Hochbaum 1944). In questions about the following items : num- Michigan about 10 per cent of 105 ducks ber of shells fired, estimate of geese light- trapped and examined carried shot (Whit- ly hit, number of geese severely crippled lock & Miller 1947), but what percent- and not retrievable, and the number of age of these ducks died later as a result geese bagged. An analysis of the ac- of the prolonged effect of carrj'ing shot is cumulated data shows that the average not known. Recent fluoroscopic studies bag per hunter-day was 1.69 geese. Since made by the Illinois Natural History Sur- the average hunter success for all clubs vey of ducks trapped at Spring Lake on in the vicinity for the entire season was the Mississippi River and at Lake Chau- 1.44 geese per hunter-day, it can be as- tauqua on the Illinois River revealed that sumed that a fairly representative group approximately 25 per cent of the of hunters was sampled. migrating through these areas carry lead The 103 hunters reporting estimated shot in their bodies as a result of shoot- that with 1,374 shells they had bagged ing. 286 geese and had severely crippled 51

Goose shooting at Horseshoe Lake, geese ; the number of geese crippled was 1940—1945, resulted in crippling losses equivalent to 18 per cent of the number similar to those reported to occur in duck bagged. This percentage probably repre- hunting. To anyone who observed the sents the minimum crippling loss. The shooting at clubs bordering the refuge at hunters reported that they had lightly hit Horseshoe Lake in the years of this study, an additional 176 birds, or a number it was apparent that the height at which a equivalent to 61 per cent of the number goose flew over the hunters seldom deter- bagged. Thus, according to their own mined whether it was shot at. The situa- estimates made the day of hunting or a tion was aggravated by the heavy concen- day after, these hunters hit, with varying tration of hunters ; hunters in the first line degrees of severity, and did not recover, of pits or blinds attempted to "reach" a number of geese equaling 79 per cent of approaching geese before the birds flew the number that they recovered. How- over the next line of pits. Novice goose ever, this figure is so high as to cast some hunters usually underestimated distances, doubt on its validity. while expert shooters, disgusted with the In 1945, Arthur S. Hawkins, then of ease with which geese leaving the refuge the Illinois Natural History Survey, and could be killed, sometimes found sport in the authors observed the shooting at attempting to "scratch down" the high several clubs and made on-the-spot tallies birds. of the number of geese bagged and the High shooting, some observers believed, number crippled but not recovered. The saved large numbers of geese by frighten- tally of crippled birds included only those ing them off before they could fly within that had been obviously and severely hit, killing range. This was undoubtedly true but others may have suffered mortal body during the early part of a season when the wounds without exhibiting a noticeable geese were not working out of the refuge reaction to their wounds at the time of in great numbers, or in years when low being shot. The hunters under observa- kills were made, but late in a season when tion bagged 253 geese but failed to re- geese were so numerous in flight over club cover an additional 62 badly crippled birds, grounds that the majority of hunters, even most of them able to fly well enough to those who indulged in high shooting, got regain the lake within the refuge bound- their limits, or in a year of high kill rate aryr, but so severely crippled as to be un- when the season was limited by a pre- able to survive the winter. Thus, in determined kill, high or indiscriminate addition to each four geese bagged, ap- ;

March, 1950 Hanson & S.^rITH : Canada Geese 157 proximately one additional goose died as a either by flying or by eluding the hunter result of shooting—a minimum crippling on the ground. Since hunters were not loss of 25 per cent. At a few clubs the permitted to recover cripples that entered ratio of birds crippled to birds bagged the refuge, club owners, at the opening frequently exceeded a ratio of one to one. ot the 1943 season, were required to erect Two instances of e.xtreme crippling were a 2-foot woven-wire fence between the observed : in one, four geese were crippled pits and the lake to aid hunters in re- and none bagged, and, in the other, seven triexing wounded geese that had been were crippled and six bagged. knocked down in the fields. Through From the various data presented above, this device, hunters secured a fair number we conclude that a conservative figure for of birds that would otherwise not have the over-all loss owing to crippling at been recovered. Horseshoe Lake is at least 30 per cent Crippled geese within the refuge were of the total bag. Crippling data are lack- usually found apart from the fl\ing birds, ing from other areas in the flyway, but sometimes gathering in flocks of 10 or it is doubtful if the rate attained at Horse- more. The strongest cripples swam about shoe Lake was exceeded. Where shooters in the lake, where they sought shelter close are widely spaced and are not competing to shore among the cypresses and snags, with each other to knock down the same fig. 42, but the weaker ones rested on the high-flying birds, there is relatively less lake shore. Few badly shot geese re- wild firing and hence less crippling. covered from their wounds ; many sur- Since crippling is more or less directly vived for a time, but in their weakened related to the number of shells fired, in- condition they became victims of predators. formation was sought on the number of consumed many dead geese shells the average hunter expended to (Yeager & Elder 1945). Although un- secure one goose. The hunters canvassed able to catch healthy birds, these animals by questionnaire in 19-H- reported that they apparently sought out and killed many of fired an average of 4.8 shells per goose the cripples, the remains of which were bagged. usually found along the shore line or on In 1945, data of a similar nature were logs some distance from shore. A few obtained by an examination of shooting carcasses were pulled under water and pits at the end of the first day of hunting. eaten by turtles. Skeletons of many geese Of the 42 pits examined at two club have been observed on the lake bottom shooting grounds bordering on Horseshoe in years when cripple surveys have been lake, the average pit contained 37 recenth- made on ice. Undetermined numbers of fired shell casings. As each of the hunt- geese sought shelter and died in parts of ers at these clubs killed his limit of two the lake that were inaccessible to man be- geese, and as no more than two hunters cause of the large number of dead trees and were permitted in each pit, the average fallen logs. Some cripples were caught number of shells fired to kill one goose by foxes and dragged into the woods on on opening day in 1945 was nine. the refuge, where they were devoured How does this score at Horseshoe Lake, others died on hunting lands away from where goose shooting was relatively easy, the lake. Consequently, a count of skele- compare with goose-shooting scores else- tons and carcasses around the shore line where? On the basis of his goose-hunting and on the island and club grounds repre- experiences in the West, Major Askins sented only a portion of the total loss. (1945), a noted authority on arms, be- To determine at least the minimum lieves that one goose to three shells, when number of unretrieved geese that died of distances are less than 80 yards, is about wounds, counts were made of goose car- the best score an average hunter can ex- casses along both island and outer shore pect. Most of his shooting was of the pass lines of the lake, as well as on the grounds variety, and he states that it is doubtful if of the principal goose clubs. The total his score was better than one bird in four counts of carcasses each winter, from shots. 1940—^1 through 1945-46, are given in Geese wounded near Horseshoe Lake table 20. Not all carcasses counted, of generally attempted to regain the lake course, represented cripples that had died, IS8 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. .1.

Tiible 20.—Number of carcasses of Canada geese counted on and near the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, 1940-41 through 1945-46. .March. 1950 H.ANSox & Smith: Canada Geese 159 advanced increased the likelihood that geese, he found dead birds that were in a geese would pick up shot in fields planted very emaciated state, a condition that he to winter wheat, one of their principal attributed to a lack of available food. Be- foods in the Horseshoe Lake area. In cause it is likely that, as a result of disease, areas where the ground held much mois- lead poisoning, or crippling, a few geese ture and the wheat plant was devoured succumb soon after their arrival on the down to the roots, some soil and probably breeding grounds, it is impossible to assess any shot that happened to be present were from this single report the importance of ingested. Geese at the refuge were ob- starvation as a cause of death in Canada served to devour considerable quantities geese. Nevertheless, there is some evidence of soil at times, particularly in winter. that a food shortage in late spring may re- In certain farmed feeding areas, holes as sult in death of the weakest birds. In the much as 6 or more inches deep and several second week of May, 1947, when the rivers times as wide were created by the geese in and creeks were frozen and tlie country their ostensible search for food. This type was still under se\eral feet of snow, geese of feeding increased the likelihood of the shot by Indians at the south end of James birds occasionally swallowing lead shot. Bay were reported as having only willow "Tip-up" feeding by Canada geese in catkins in their gizzards. the water of the Horseshoe Lake area was observed in late winter. This habit may Bound Crop have been a response to a reduced food Occasionally Canada geese were found supply on land. In 1942. a slough on the in the vicinity of Horseshoe Lake in a west side of the lake was a favored "tip- thin, weakened state and with greatly up" ground. Dr. William H. Elder, while with the Illinois Natural History Sur- vey, when surveying this area for cripples, found 13 dead or dying geese on the ice or close to the shore line. Of 23 geese autopsied by Dr. Elder in late winter, 20 were found to have died of lead poisoning, 18 of these containing shot in their gizzards. Paul S. Smith of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, who conducted a series of tests on one of the most heavily shot club grounds, found about one lead

shot per square foot of top soil, 1 inch in depth. Only the fact that the grounds of hunting clubs were cultivated each year Fig. 65.—Esophagus, proventriculus, and prevented losses due to lead poisoning from gizzard of a Canada goose found dead on the assuming greater proportions. The po- Bright Land Farm near Barrington, Illinois. tential danger from lead shot increased Death in this case was due to lead poisoning each year of the study, and the proximity from 38 shot found in gizzard. Food impac-

of heavily shot fields to such an important tion is the result of lead poisoning, which concentration area as the Horseshoe Lake often causes paralysis of the digestive tract Game Refuge constituted a significant in Canada geese and other waterfowl. (Pho- hazard to the geese wintering there. tograph by Charles W. Kossack.)

Starvation distended crops. Examination of these in- A Canadian Indian whose hunting di\ iduals re\ealed that an impacted crop grounds lie in the Lawapiskau River* was often the primary cause of their con- country related that during late springs, dition, and, though operative measures when snow remained on the ground for were tried, few of these geese had suffi- some time after the arrival of Canada cient stamina left to survive. Their crop contents usually consisted of a tightly • This river flows into James Bay 20 miles soulh of die Albany River. packed mixture of wheat browse, corn, 160 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 and cou-peas, or sojbeans, and frequently several weeks after most of the local corn leaves and portions of the stems of the crop had been utilized or removed from two legumes. In some of these, bound the fields, fig. 66. While consumption crop may not have been the direct cause by geese of shattered and otherwise wasted of loss of weight and strength; instead it soybeans may seem desirable, these beans may have been the result of partial paral- may sometimes have contributed to a num- ysis and weakness resulting from lead ber of deaths resulting from bound crop. poisoning, fig. 65. In the winter of 1943—44 in particular, C. E. Laughery, formerly refuge mana- Paul S. Smith, when surveying the vicinity ger at the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge, of the refuge, found a number of dead informed us that geese with bound crops geese, their crops tightly packed with soy- were most frequently found in years when beans. These birds were said to differ

Fig. 66.—Canada geese in a harvested soybean field near Horseshoe Lake, autumn 1946.

a considerable acreage on the refuge was from the crop-bound birds described above planted to cowpeas. Cowpea fields attract in that they were particularly heavy and large numbers of geese long after the fat. Probably in the winter certain geese bulk of the crop has been consumed. A fed more extensively on soybeans than on few geese, while searching for peas, evi- other foods and, as soybeans have a high dently consume fibrous and relatively in- protein and fat content, these individuals digestible portions of the plant. The pres- became heavier than the average goose of ence of such material in the crops of the area. Apparently these geese died geese may be responsible for impactions. after drinking water when their crops were In recent years, soybeans were planted crammed with beans. The pressure re- extensively in southern Illinois, and the sulting when the beans imbibed water and geese tended to utilize this crop to a swelled may have been the direct cause of

greater extent each year. There was fre- death in such cases ; the mechanism of the quently much wastage in harvesting these lethal effect is not known to us. beans; many fields in the vicinity of Horse- Geese frequently stuff their crops tight shoe Lake were not combined until an with corn, but in only one instance was appreciable portion of the crop had been corn suspected of being an indirect cause lost through shattering. As a result, beans of death. This individual with an over- in abundance were available to geese for loaded crop, fig. 67, became agitated in March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 161

crippled geese that had died, and in December, 1945, several eagles were ob- served by Paul S. Smith to attack a live goose (probably a weak cripple) that was frozen to the ice by its feet and breast feathers. Eagles were ne\er seen to at- tack a sound, healthy goose. Bald eagles are reported to feed on wounded geese in the Port Joli area of Nova Scotia, and never to be absent from the area as long as the geese remain (Tufts 1932). A discussion of predators on the

Fig. 67.—The Canada goose is a voracious breeding grounds will be found in the eater. This iiulividual with an overloaded section on "Productivity." crop became frightened when a game techni- cian entered the trap in which it had been Diseases caught. It hail extreme difficulty in breathing Only two diseases were investigated at and died a few minutes later. Horseshoe Lake: tracheitis and asper- gillosis.

the trap and died shortly thereafter, e.x- Tracheitis.— In January, 1945, a hibiting the syndrome typical of ano.xia. number of geese trapped were found to Rough tests of the swelling properties have wheezy voices, indicative of a con- of dry soybeans and corn revealed that gested tracheal condition. Two of thete the beans present a much greater hazard as birds eventually died, and the lungs and food for geese than does the corn. Soy- trachea of one were sent to the Depart- beans and corn were soaked in water for ment of Animal Pathology and Hygiene, intervals varying from 30 minutes to 6 University of Illinois, for examination. hours. Water displacement measure- The cause of death was diagnosed as ments showed that the soybeans increased tracheitis, pulmonary congestion, and their bulk at a rate appro.ximately three edema. times the rate corn increased its bulk. The symptoms of the disease as obser\cd At the end of 3 hours, soybeans had in- at Horseshoe Lake were a \oice pitched creased their bulk by 85 per cent and corn higher than normal, a distinct "wheeze," by 30 per cent. These data and field ob- and heavy, spasmodic breathing, accom- servations suggest that soybeans and cow- panied by a forward throw of the head peas may not be ideal crops to plant for and open mandibles as the bird gasped the e.xpress purpose of providing food for for air, fig. 68. As the disease progressed, wintering concentrations of Canada geese. the effort attendant upon the intake of

Predators

The is probably the only preda-

tor at Horseshoe Lake that is capable of catching sound, healthy geese. Remains of geese found in cornfields late in the autumn point to by foxes, but probably most carcasses represented secondary predation involving birds crip- pled during the hunting season. In each year covered by this study, a pair of bald eagles nested on the island in Horseshoe Lake, and both adults and juveniles were observed regularl\- through- out the autumn and winter periods. In Fig. 68. — Canada goose near death frotn the autumn of 1945, the eagle population tracheitis. Symptoms of this disease are a on the refuge numbered at least five. forward throw of the head and neck and Eagles were frequently seen feeding on gaping as the bird gasps for air. 162 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

air became increasingly spasmodic and the typical nodules associated with Asper- violent because of the whitish exudate gillus infections were present throughout that accumulated in the trachea at the the body cavity, fig. 69, left. In December junction of the bronchi. 1946, a second juvenile goose was found Both field experience and laboratory dead from an Jspergillus infection. Post- findings indicate that tracheitis is infec- mortem examination of this specimen by tious, but the nature of the infectious the Department of Animal Pathology and agent is uncertain. Graham & Thorp Hygiene revealed that the air sacs were (1931) have reported that a Canada partly, or in some cases completely, filled

Fig. 69.—Aspergillosis in Canada geese. The nodules of Aspergillus infection shown in the illustration at left are on the lateral wall of the body cavity. In the goose shown in the illustra- tion at right, the air sacs are the principal foci of infection. Both specimens were juveniles.

goose from a farm flock had clinical with a fungus growth, fig. 69, right, that symptoms analogous to acute laryngotra- upon cultural examination presented the cheitis in domestic fowl. However, au- cliaracteristics of Aspergillus fumigatus. topsy of the goose revealed that the lung contained foci of mycotic pneumonia. Parasites Aspergillosis.—The manifestations of Both interna! and external parasites aspergillosis in waterfowl have been ade- were taken from Canada geese wintering quately described by Phillips & Lincoln at Horseshoe Lake. (1930). While outbreaks are known to External Parasites.—Four species occur occasionally in duck populations belonging to four different genera of (Phillips & Lincoln 1930; Pirnie 1935; chewing lice or Mallophaga were taken Bellrose, Hanson, & Beamer 1945), only from Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake. one instance of its occurrence in Canada Specimens of Trinoton querqueduhte geese in the wild has been recorded pre- Linnaeus collected in the winter of 1945— viously (Dow 1943). 46 were identified by Dr. Carl O. Mohr, At Horseshoe Lake on November 7, then of the Illinois Natural History Sur- 1946, a juvenile Canada goose was found vey staff. The following species, collected in a much weakened condition. Within a from a dead goose in 1934, were identified day it was dead, and autopsy revealed that by R. O. N. Malcomson: Anatoecus March, 1950 Haxson & Smith: Canada Geese Ibi ferruyiiieus Giebel, Esthiopterum crassi- Canada goose at Horseshoe Lake and on corrte (Scopoli), and Ornithobius gonio- the breeding grounds, and in records of pleurus Denny. geese banded at the Miner Sanctuary. Internal Parasites.— Flukes were frequently encountered in the cloacae of Breeding Potential Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake when The theoretical capacity of a species

examinations were made for sex and age. to produce young is determined by mating A number collected in the winter of 1945— habits, age at reproductive maturity, ratio 46 were referred to Dr. L. J. Thomas of males to females, and number of young of the Department of Zoology, Univer- produced per season. Information in the sity of Illinois, for identification. In his literature on these subjects is briefly sum- report he identified these specimens as marized to aid in interpreting the signifi- Echinosloma revolutum and Prostliot/oiii- cance of related data from the Mis-

mus sp. ; specific identification in the lat- sissippi fiyway. ter genus was impossible because of the Mating Habits.—The Canada goose poor condition of the specimen. is monogamous and, judged from the habits of captives, fig. 70, remains paired PRODUCTIVITY' to the same mate as long as both are alive. In captivity, individuals have been known

It is important to know several months to re-pair after the death of a mate in advance the probable population of any (Montgomery 1938), although in some game species at the start of a hunting sea- cases several years may elapse before re- son in order to determine what hunting mating takes place (Miner 1923). Re- restrictions will be necessary in that sea- mating experiments with Canada geese by son. Populations of nonmigratory game Charles Kossack and Carleton Beckhart can be estimated or inventoried before at tlie Bright Land Farm near Barring- the hunting season more easily than can ton, Illinois, have shown that a very high those of such migratory species as the percentage of captives will remate the first Canada goose, which nests in compara- spring following separation from their tively inaccessible regions. Because of mates. the length of time generally required be- Reproductive Maturity.—At least fore they can be officially approved, hunt- 2 \ears are required for the Canada goose ing regulations for migratory waterfowl to reach sexual maturity in the wild, and must be decided upon while the actual in captivity the age of maturity is often size of the fall population is still an un- 3 years and sometimes 4 (Dutcher 1885,

known. Thus, it is desirable to be able Bailey 1913, Taverner 1922, Wilfrid to forecast the population accurately from 1924, and Forbush 1925). Studies made data obtained during the previous season. by the Illinois Natural History Survey of Forecasts can be made more easily for a the semicaptive flock at the Bright Land population of limited size and distribution, Farm revealed that 25 per cent of the such as the Horseshoe Lake goose flock, geese bred during their third year (Elder than for immense, continent-wide popu- 1946). lations. Definite information on Canada geese To interpret and predict population breeding in the wild at 2 years of age is trends from flocks on their wintering lacking. If the presence of an open oviduct

areas, such questions as these must be is a sign of sexual maturity or an indica-

answered : What is the age ratio, within tion that eggs have been produced, data the flock, of juveniles to adults? What from Horseshoe Lake indicate that in the are the survival rates of various age and wild practically all females are productive sex groups? How long do geese live? at 2 years of age. However, until further How many or what percentage of a popu- information is available, inclusion of all lation attain breeding age? What is the wild geese in their third year of life in the ratio of males to females? Does a dis- breeding component of the population must proportionate kill occur in the various sex be considered tentative. Of 54 females

and age groups ? Answers to these ques- banded as juveniles and retrapped and tions have been sought in studies of the examined at Horseshoe Lake in their History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 164 Illinois Natural

Fig. 70.—Female Canada goose and newly hatched young on the Bright Land Farm near Harrington, Illinois. (Photograph by Charles W. Kossack.) second winter, all possessed closed oviducts individuals in the wild, few of which live (at about 11,-4 years of age); but of 18 longer than about 5 years (see section on females retrapped and examined in their "Population Survival"). third winter (at about 2l^ years old), all Sex Ratios.—Sex ratios of Canada but one possessed open oviducts (Hanson geese as they were obtained from trapping 1949fl). and from bag inspection in the vicinity of

The duration of fertility is probably Horseshoe Lake are given in tables 21 and not a factor limiting the productivity of 22. In the juvenile age class, trap data Canada goose populations, as captives for the period of study indicate a slight

have been known to raise young at ages but statistically significant excess of males ; that far e.xceed the length of life of most bag data, on the other hand, indicate no March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: C.an.-\d.\ Geese 165

Table 21.—Number of male and female juvenile Canada jieese newly trapped and banded and number examined in bag at or near Horseshoe Lake, 1940-41 through 1946-47. ;

166 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

The number of eggs produced by cap- These attitudes by a native people, who tives is surprisingly close to the production are the keenest of observers, should be attained by wild birds. In 1Q42, 54 pairs given careful consideration. Recent studies of Canada geese on the Bright Land Farm have generally confirmed the belief that produced 250 eggs, or an average of 4.81 predators have little effect in controlling eggs per pair. Several people experienced the numbers of cyclic prey species, but in in raising Canada geese have stated that the case of Canada geese we are dealing the number of eggs laid may vary with with a bird that is normally of secondary the age of the birds. Dutcher (1885) importance as a prey species and that at cites a game breeder on Long Island who present is not known to be cyclic. If claimed that 4 eggs are laid the first year geese and other waterfowl are subject to of breeding, 5 the second, and 6 or 7 increased predation by foxes when these

thereafter. Miner (1923) also states animals are at the peak of their cycle, it that "a j'oung goose will lay four eggs is conceivable that the numbers of water- the first year [of laying] and usually five fowl could be measurably affected by fox the second." predation. A few Indians that remain in the in- Actual Productivity terior occasionally take goose eggs, but as The number of young birds brought to the greater number of the Indians are at the flying stage is always somewhat less the coastal posts, fig. 55, during the nest- than the theoretical maximum. Fertility ing season, the importance of Indian pre- of Canada goose eggs is evidently high. dation is negligible. In and , an egg fertility Juvenile mortality in Canada geese ap- of 93 and 94 per cent, respectively, was pears to be small. In Utah a 3 per cent found. However, flooding, predators, decrease in average brood size occurs over and other agents may destroy as high as a period of a month (Williams & Marshall 40 to 48 per cent of the nests in Cali- 1938). Little is known concerning pre- fornia (Dow 1943) and thus reduce pro- dation on broods, but in one recorded duction of young. Consequently, the an- instance in ring-billed nual production for all pairs that nest may devoured a brood of newly hatched average only 2.48 to 2.84 goslings per pair, goslings (Munro 1936). or about 50 per cent of the number of eggs The scarcity of natural enemies in the produced. In Utah, 84 nests studied James Bay muskeg area normally insures yielded an average of 3.9 goslings per small losses of goslings to predators nest (Williams & Marshall 1938). are absent, almost non-

Second nestings are sometimes attempted, existent ; lynxes, minks, martens, fishers, a factor that would somewhat increase the and otters are generally scarce, and wol- average annual productivity per pair. verines are extremely rare. Probably Information volunteered by the Indians foxes, abundant at the peak of their cycles, at Moose Factory, Fort Albany, and At- are predators of consequence only in years

tawapiskat suggests that the red fox is in which populations of snowshoe hares the predator most destructive to Canada and other prey species are low. Great goose nests in the James Bay area. The horned owls are fairly common and may extent to which foxes are harmful to account for the loss of a few young geese. goose nests is probably inversely related to the population levels of other prey species. Data From Horseshoe Lake In 1946, a year during w-hich foxes were The degree to which goose productivity abundant, but snowshoe hares, muskrats, measurements at Horseshoe Lake are a grouse, and ptarmigan were low in num- valid measure of the actual productivity bers, Indians reported finding many of the Horseshoe Lake flock on the breed- Canada goose nests destroyed by foxes. ing grounds is dependent upon the magni- When interviewed in the summer of 1947, tude of the losses between the James Bay one Indian said, "The foxes are now low area and Horseshoe Lake (see section on in numbers. Let's wait and see what "Annual Bag"). kind of luck the geese have in raising The autumn kill by the Canadian In- young this year." dians is small, fig. 61, so that, even if more — ;

.March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canaoa Geese 167

Fi^. 71.— lype of trap used to catch Canada gtese at Horseshoe Lake. Trap consists of eight wood and wire frames roofed over with twine netting and supported with guy wires. Open ends are closed off by tripping a pipe-weighted, twine curtain from a blind.

young than adults are killed in proportion shoe Lake Refuge by November 1. As to their numbers, the ratio of juveniles to the bulk of the kills north of the refuge adults in the flocks is not changed ap- are made after this date, fig. 62, most of preciably by the time the geese migrate the flocks that arrive at the refuge have southward. The scarcity of band re- been only moderately depleted b\' shooting coveries between James Bay and southern band recoveries indicate that total hunting Canada further indicates that the flocks losses between the Canadian border and are still largely intact when they reach Horseshoe Lake are usually 5 to 6 per the northern border of the United States. cent of the southward bound population. From fig. 38 it is evident that the majority Because of the small migration losses in of the geese have arrived at the Horse- the population, the over-all ratio of young

Mi-Mi

i IS- 72. Canada geese feeding into drop curtain trap at Horseshoe Lake. :

168 Illinois Natur..\l History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

to old in the flocks as they arrive in turns), many of which are accompanied southern Illinois probably does not differ by their unhanded young. Therefore, the greatly from ratios existing at the time ratio of juveniles to adults among the the family groups start their southward newly banded birds, table 23, is not in- migrations; therefore, we believe that age dicative of the age ratios in the flock as a and se.x ratios at Horseshoe Lake furnish whole, as it necessarily excludes the many reasonably accurate measures of actual banded adults that returned to the traps. productivity ratios in most years. The ratio of juveniles to adults for Trapping data and data from bag in- entire-season catches is given in table 24. spection and band recoveries combined The figures for the season catches in this have been used in measuring production of instance include the geese trapped in a the Canada geese wintering at Horseshoe specified season but banded in a previous Lake. season (trap returns) as well as the newly The age ratios of the geese caught in banded birds, but they exclude birds traps are believed to be fairly representa- banded and retrapped in the same season tive of the untrappd population for the (repeats). These data more nearly rep- following reason: No significant dif- resent the actual juvenile-adult ratio in ference was observed in the wariness of the flock than do the data on newly banded geese of the various age classes as the geese given in table 23. birds entered the traps (many geese were Data from bag inspection are indicative color-banded to indicate age classes). of true flock ratios only when they are Many catches consisted of individuals that corrected for differential hunting vulner- had entered the traps, fig. 71, as parts of a ability of the juveniles by means of trap

busily feeding wedge ; such catches would and band-recovery data. Age ratios de- not represent selective trapping, fig. 72. rived directly from band-recovery data The ratio of juveniles to adults during do not accurately reflect the age ratios in the early part of the autumn no doubt the total population for the same reason differs to some extent from the ratio after that the age ratios of unhanded geese in the hunting season because of the propor- the hunters' bag do not, namely, that the tionately greater kill of juveniles, table 23, banded juveniles are shot more heavily in but we are not able to demonstrate the proportion to their actual numbers than extent of this difference from the data at are the banded adults. However, age hand. ratios derived from band recoveries can The total annual catch since the win- be used to correct bag ratios for the dis- ter of 1943-44, excluding repeats, includes proportionate kill of juveniles as follows a large percentage (5.4, 22.5, 42.7, and (1) Determine the relative vulnerability

30.0 per cent, table 1 ) of geese trapped to shooting of the juveniles and the adults. and banded in previous years (trap re- (2) Use the vulnerability quotient of the

Table 23.—Number of juvenile and adult Canada geese newly trapped and banded and number examined in bag at or near Horseshoe Lake, 1940-41 through 1946-47. . .

March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 169

Table 24.—Productivity of the Horseshoe Lake flock as shown by trapping and bag- inspection ratios.'

From Trapping Fro.m Bag Inspection

Total Num- Number of Season ber of Indi- Juveniles Juveniles Juveniles viduals Breeding Number of "per 100 Trapped Adult Juveniles per 100 per 100 Adult Yearlings Yearlings of Known Females Trapped Females and Adults and Adults .Age-Cla.ss Trapped^ and Sex''

1940-41 . 313 143 84 1941-42. 408 274 204

1942-43. . 1,054 619 142 1943-44 2,462 1,379 127 126 1944-45 1,101 136 607 446 123 1945-46. 541 88 196 223 57 1946-47. 717 114 296 260 70

Tolal . . 6,596 33S J, 514 0^9 807 .Average 325 U4

' Sec page 168 for explanation of reasons figures in tiiis table difTer from those in table 23. ' Numbers in this column include returns (geese banded in previous years). ' About 2y!t or more years old at time of trapping. juveniles to correct bag ratios for the According to these calculations, at disproportionate numbers of juveniles lost Horseshoe Lake in 1943, the juveniles through shooting. were 8.34 times as vulnerable to shooting The vulnerability quotient of the juve- as were the adults. With this figure avail- niles is obtained b\ the following formula, able, it is possible, assuming the vulner- suggested by Frank C. Bellrose: ability quotient to be a true measure of vulnerability of the juveniles, to correct Number of band re- the age ratios obtained from bag inspec- coveries from juve- tion, which, by \'irtue of the higher vulner- niles ability of the juveniles, is weighted in Number of juveniles favor of this group as coinpared with the banded before end of adult group in the total surviving popu- hunting .season lation. Vulnerability quotient V = Number of band re- To correct age-ratio data obtained from coveries from adults bag inspection, it is assumed that the fol-

lowing formula is true, in which is Number of adults V the banded before end ot vulnerabilit.\' quotient calculated above hunting season from the trap and band-recovery data.

Data that are perhaps numerous enough Number of juveniles in to use in determining the vulnerability of bag the ju\ eniles as compared with the vulner- Juveniles in ability of the adults are available only for population Number of adults in bag Ratio the 1943 hunting season. .Adults in In 1943: population —

History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 170 Illinois Natural

158 mature females, compensation can be made in statistical analyses of the flock for Juveniles 15 annual changes in the percentage of non- Ratio (1943) Adults 8.34 breeding yearlings as well as for changes in ratio of adult males to adult females.

Juveniles 10.53 These productivity figures will be at Ratio (1943) = 1.26 variance with the impression that the aver- Adults 8.34 age hunter gets from the flock at Horse- shoe Lake. This hunter, on viewing the impressive concentration of geese at Horse- Then the corrected age ratio is 1.26 shoe Lake, thinks that the total number juveniles to 1.0 adult. of mated pairs in the flock in the following The ratio of juveniles to adults found spring will equal the total population above from corrected bag ratios for 1943 divided by two. Since he has heard that is close to the age ratio found from trap- geese annually lay 5 or 6 eggs, he assumes ping for 1943 (127 juveniles to 100 that there will be an impressive increase adults, table 24). Over a 7-year period for the next hunting season, and, thinking the juvenile age class comprised about 53 in terms of himself, anticipates more shoot- per cent of the birds in the Horseshoe ing. When informed that the flock may Lake flock, table 24. be even smaller in numbers at its peak Not only is it important to know what in the autumn than it was at the close of percentage of the flock is composed of shooting the previous year (as actually juveniles each year for a significant anal- happened in the autumns of 1944 and ysis of productivity; it is important to 1945), in spite of the young added to the know also the production of young in re- flock as a result of the breeding season, lation to the number of mature females he may be dubious as to the competence birds that are 2i/2 or more years old when of his informer. wintering at Horseshoe Lake. By re- The layman often fails to take into ac- lating productivity to only the sexually count the fact that Canada geese do not

Table 25.—Age and sex composition of the Horseshoe Lake flock, 1944-45 through 1946—47, as shown by trap catches of unhanded and previously banded geese. ;

March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 171 breed until they are at least 2 or 3 years old, and that at least one-half of the birds he sees will still be sexually immature in the spring ; that an excess of males exists in the birds of breeding age, table 25 that members of broken pairs may be slow to mate; that some pairs each year are not

successful in rearing a family ; and that natural losses as well as the Indian kill are taking place in the intervening months. The actual number of sexually mature fe- males upon which production in the coming spring is dependent may comprise only a small segment of the winter flock. in some years as low as 12 to 17 per cent, table 25.' A rapid method of distinguishing year- lings from older geese, for use on live birds in the field, was not developed until the fall of 1944 (Hanson 194%). Since the more nearly complete data from 194-1— 45 through 1945—1-6 were collected dur- ing and after hunting seasons in which higher rates of loss occurred among juveniles than among adults, the actual ratios of juveniles to breeding females existing before the shooting began would be somewhat higher than those indicated in table 24 ; the trap ratios in table 24 differ from the indicated ratios or percent-

4- :

Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 172 Illinois I

ob- Table 26.—Hypothetical catches of Canada pressed as a percentage of the total geese to illustrate difference between a trap servations. series and a return series. From these data we suggest size 1. That the average family-flock fur- in late summer or early autumn may nish a rough index of the age ratio within this ratio a large population, fig. 73 ; frorn the success of nesting the previous spring mav be inferred, A and D in fig. 64. 2. That the average family-flock size in middle or late autumn, when compared with similar data gathered the same year before the opening of the hunting season, family is indicative of the degree to which groups have been broken through shoot- ing. (Compare F and G in fig. 64.) POPULATION SURVIVAL*

One of the objectives of the Canada goose research program reported in this paper was to determine through trapping and banding the annual mortality rate and the average longevity of Canada geese in the Horseshoe Lake flock in the period 1941—1946 and to compare the annual mortality data derived from the banding at Horseshoe Lake with similar data de- rived from the banding of Mississippi fly- way geese at the Jack Miner Sanctuary in the period 1925-1944. Definition of Terms In the following discussion, age class refers to a group of geese, all of them hatched in a given year. A banding class includes all geese banded in a given season regardless of age at time of banding. The computed percentage of geese of a banding class alive each year in a series of succes- sive years following banding comprises a survival series. This series may be com- puted from data in a band-recovery series (recoveries of bands from birds reported dead in any of several successive years after banding) or from data in a trap series (returns of banded birds to the traps in any of several successive years).

• The senior aullior is responsible for this section. As he carried out the trapping program at Horseshoe Lake and the compilation of the Miner recovery data in Ottawa, Canada, he is fully conscious of the inade- quacies and bias in the data on which the following discussion is based. Tiiese inadequacies and bias do not permit the data to he treated by the customary metliods. Tlie methods used by-pass some of the shortcomings of the data, but. in the final analysis, the results presented only produce an approximation of the true picture. The reader should bear this point in mind in evaluating the results presented. It was deemed advisable to exploit the data as far as possible rather than disregard them altogether because of an acute awareness of their vagaries. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 173

Table 27.—Approximate mortality of juvenile Canada geese durin;^ the first year after banding (vear 0-1) at Horseshoe Lake, as determined bv censuses and age ratios from trapping, 1943-44 through 1946-47. 174 Illinois N.atur.al History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

results in catches that are composed of and 32 were derived from the weighted disproportionately large numbers of band- average per cent returns of geese of con- ed yearlings in relation to the actual num- secutive }'ear classes, beginning with year bers of this age class in the untrapped por- 1-2 (first trapping season after year of tion of the population, with the result that banding). Tables 28, 29, and 30 include calculated mortalities for yearlings, al- only juvenile-banded geese; tables 31, 32, though seemingly very high, may be below and 33 include both juvenile-banded and the rates that actually occur in that age adult-banded birds. group in the unhanded segment of the A more nearly accurate picture of sur- population. vival in age classes than that given by table In table 28 the actual number of trap 29 begins with the 26.46 year-of-banding returns from geese banded as juveniles at survival figure, table 27. Survival in

Horseshoe Lake is given, and in table 29 subsequent years was derived from the these numbers have been converted into weighted average per cent returns in table percentages of the original bandings. For 29 through the formula explained in foot- example, 67 geese banded as juveniles in note 4 of that table ; the survival series the trapping season of 1942—43 and 13 figure for the year previous to year 1-2 geese banded as juveniles in the season is assumed to be 26.46. For example, of 1941—42 were trapped in the winter of 9.57:4.17::26.46:x; x is 11.53, the sur- 1943—14, table 28. Expressed as percent- vival series figure for the year 1-2. The ages these returns were 10.82 and 4.74 entire survival series is 26.46, 11.53, 3.90, per cent of the original bandings (619 3.73, 1.99, 3.87, fig. 74. The weighted and 274, respectively), table 29. average survival rates, as calculated from The survival series figures in tables 29 this survival series by the method suggested

Table 29.—Trap returns of Canada geese banded as juveniles at Horseshoe Lake, ex- pressed as percentages of original bandings, 1940-41 through 1946-47.

Season March. 1950 Hanson & Smith: C.an.vo.x Geese 175

Table 30.—Annual mortality rates (per cent) of juveniles in the Canada goose flock at Horseshoe Lake. 194l)-41 through 1946-47. (See formula, page 173, and data in table 29, top).

Season 176 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

lOOH

I BANDED IN FIRST YEAR OF LIFE 80- n BANDED IN FIRST OR LATER YEAR OF LIFE

tiJ > 60H

LiJ O 40 (T LiJ Q.

20-

-1— —r- -I— -r- T 3 4 5 6 7 YEAR AFTER BANDING Fig. 74.—Survival of two groups of Canada geese, one banded in first year of life and one banded in first or later year of life. Curve I figures are from page 174; Curve II figures are from table 32, survival series 1.

geese remaining alive in each successive Horseshoe Lake flock disappeared during year. The survival rates cited above in- the first 5 years of life following banding dicate that an average of 74 per cent of in the trapping seasons 1940-41 through the original bandings disappeared by the 1946-47. The disproportionate loss of end of the year of banding, 56 per cent of juveniles that usually occurs, in large part the survivors were lost during the second from shooting, does not weight this por- year after banding, 66 per cent the third tion of the survival series, since the series

year, 4 per cent the fourth year, and 47 is based on the total per cent of the geese

per cent the fifth year, table 30. returning to the traps 1 or more years Data on returns from banded geese of after banding. The weighted average per all ages, that is, the combined returns of cent return, 9.70, table 32, of geese the birds banded as juveniles, yearlings, and first year after the year of banding neces- geese of unknown age, have been treated sarily represents birds that are at least Ij/z in the manner described above, tables 31, years of age. 32, and 33. The survival series obtained, The calculation methods discussed above

49-22-11-7-5, table 32 and fig. 74, is leave much to be desired, particularly believed to represent the approximate rate those involving mortality rates of the at which the average banding class in the juveniles during the first year of life after March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 177

Table 33.—Annual mortality rates (per cent) in the Canada ijoose flock wintering at Horseshoe Lake, 1940-41 through 1946-47. (See formula, page 173, and data in table 32, top.)

Season 178 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Table 35.— Recoveries in the Mississippi River valley of bands from Canada geese banded at Kingsville, Ontario, in the autumn, 1925-1932. The recoveries are for 12 years, includinfi the year of banding.'

1925-1932 March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Can.ad.a Geese 179

ing, as well as during subsequent banding seasons, and (2) the tendency of some in- dividuals to establish a trap habit that persisted in later years.

For several reasons it seemed desirable to make an "across the board" treatment of the trap data, that is, an analysis of mortality from annual random samplings of the retrapped banded survivors. Tables 28-33, referring to trap returns, should be read horizontally ; they should not be read diagonally, as they would be if a single banding class were followed through the years. A few geese banded at Horseshoe Lake winter in parts of the Mississippi flyway other than at this lake, and while some disperse to other flyways, table 4, there is no evidence that this dispersal to a dif- ferent wintering range is greater during any particular year than in others, a factor that might otherwise seriously influence the validity of our sur\i\ al series. Mortality Calculated From Band Recoveries.—The survival rate meas- ured by the use of band recoveries is based on the assumption that the unhanded segment of a population disappears at approximately the same rate as the banded segment and that year-to-year differences in the numbers of banded birds reported dead in successive years is indicative of the annual mortality of the entire popula- tion. However, unless all banding is

Table 38.—Recoveries in the Mississippi River valley of bands from Canada geese of all age classes banded at Horseshoe Lake, 1940-41 through 1944-45.

Trapping 180 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

coveries reported during each succeeding remainder represented the Southeast popu- year after banding is subtracted from the lation. number of banded geese unrecovered and For the purpose of comparing mortality presumably alive the preceding year; then in another segment of the Mississippi the number of geese unrecovered and as- Valley population since 1925 with mortal- sumed to be alive in each year is ex- ity in the Horseshoe Lake Hock, recoveries pressed as a per cent of the total recoveries, of geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird table 35. The second method must be Sanctuary in the autumn were used, table used for recovery data from bandings at 34. Although band recoveries from geese Kingsville, Ontario, because the size of of unknown age at the time of banding the original banding is not known with do not give a precise picture of population certainty and because an unknown portion mortality in Canada geese because of the of the bandings listed in table 2 were differentially high kill of the juveniles by suffice Mississippi Valley geese ; presumably the hunters, they as a basis for a com-

YEAR OF BANDING INCLUDED YEAR OF BANDING EXCLUDED

-r T 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 YEAR AFTER BANDING

Fig. 75.—Average survival of Mississippi Valley Canada geese, as measured by band re- coveries from geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kingsville, Ontario, in the autumn, 1925-1932. Curve I includes band recoveries made during the year of banding; curve II excludes recoveries made during the year of banding. Curve I (data from table 35) starts with an expression (100 per cent) of the total number of recovered bands; curve II (data from table 41) starts with an expression (100 per cent) of the total number of recovered bands that were on geese alive at the beginning of the year following banding. I March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese ISl

925-29 1930-34 935-39

YEAR AFTER BANDING

Fig. 76.—Average survival of Mississippi Valley Canada geese, as measured by band re- coveries from geese banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, in the autumn, 1925-1939. That part of each curve representing the year of banding shows a higher rate of survival than actually occurred, as in the data (from table 36), which represent the number of bands re- covered and not the number of bands applied; no correction was made for the varying lengths of exposure to guns experienced by geese banded at various times in the season of banding. parison of mortality rates in different end of the si.xth or seventh years after years. As no individuals from the Miner banding, table 35, no great error would autumn bandings have been reported shot result from basing an analysis of mortal- in the Mississippi River valley later than ity from 1925 through 1939 on the num- 12 years after banding, recoveries of geese ber of banded geese reported dead by the banded in 1925—1932 may be considered end of the sixth or seventh years. Re- nearly 100 per cent complete by 1944. coveries of birds banded in those years These data, summarized in table 35 and are grouped by three 5-year periods. These presented graphically in fig. 75, curve I, 5-year data groups are set off by horizontal show that maximum sur\ival in Canada lines in table 34. In table 36, they have geese in the Mississippi River valley under been summarized. The survival curves moderate hunting pressure is about 12 based on these data are shown graphically years. in fig. 76. Since about 93 per cent of the bands in In order to compare the survival of the 12-vear series were recovered bv the geese banded at the Miner Sanctuary in 182 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

1940-1944 with the survival achieved by largest number of recoveries from Miner geese banded by the Miners in previous bandings have been received in most in- the of years, it was necessarj- to use an incomplete stances the year following year band-recovery series, derived from table banding, table 34. One reason for this 34, as explained in a footnote to table 37. situation may be that the geese that are The groupings for this analysis are sum- trapped and banded represent those that marized in table 37 and the computed remain at the sanctuary the longest ; this survival curves are shown in fig. 77. explanation is supported by migration data. First-year survival data obtained from Late south-bound migrants tend to remain recoveries of geese banded at the Miner longer in the more northerly sectors of the Sanctuary in the autumn are not an ac- autumn and winter range than do the curate representation of average first-year early migrants. Furthermore, most of the survival for Mississippi flyway geese as a geese banded at the Miner Sanctuary in whole. Whereas most bandings of water- the autumn are trapped in November and fowl yield the greatest number of re- December, when the hunting season in coveries during the year of banding, the the northern and central zones of the

1925-29 1930-34 1935-39

YEAR AFTER BANDING

Fig. 77.—Comparative survival of Mississippi Valley Canada geese in four 5-year periods. Curves are based on band recoveries from geese banded at the Miner Sanctuary in the autumn (data from table 37, which include recoveries in year of banding). Curves start with an ex- pression (100 per cent) of total number of bands recovered, not total number placed on geese. Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese

925-29 n 1930-34 m 1935-39 12 1940-44

Y. 1941 -45

YEAR AFTER BANDING

Fig. 78.—Comparative survival in three 5-year periods of Mississippi Valley Canada geese that were at least IJ j years old (the year after being banded). Curves I-IV are based on data from table 39, bandings at Kingsville, Ontario. Curve V is based on data from table 38, bandings at Horseshoe Lake. All curves start with an expression (100 per cent) of the total number of recovered bands that were on geese alive at the beginning of the year following banding.

Mississippi flyway is at least half over. range than are geese banded at Kingsville, Nevertheless, these data demonstrate some- Ontario, fig. 7), it is of interest to com- thing of the magnitude of the relative dif- pare the band-recovery data from these ferences of survival of the various quin- two banding stations through the season quennial groupings, either graphically or 5-6 after banding, the last season for expressed as survival indices. which data are available for both stations. Because the Canada goose population When this comparison of mortality wintering at Horseshoe Lake constitutes rates is made, it is desirable to omit re- a somewhat different representation of coveries made during the season of band- the Mississippi \'alley population than do ing, since the time of banding, the loca- the geese banded in the autumn at the tion of the banding station, and the cir- Miner Sanctuary (demonstrated by the cumstances immediately following band- fact that geese handed at Horseshoe Lake ing are not comparable. The recovery are shot farther north on the breeding data from the Horseshoe Lake flock are 184 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

(li\en in table 38 and the recovery data geese. Since the latter age class is far from the Miner bandings for a comparable more vulnerable to shooting than older number of years are summarized in table geese, recoveries from a banded popula- 39. The survival series derived from tion that includes juveniles would natural- tables 38 and 39 are presented graphically ly reflect more sensitively the severity of in /ig. 78. hunting losses in various seasons. For Inspection of the curves in fig. 78 reveals this reason curve V in fig. 78, which is that the differences between curves I and based on data presented in table 38, does IV are not so great as between comparable not adequately reflect the tremendous and curves shown in fig. 77. The probable ex- disproportionate kill of juveniles in the planation is that all recoveries shown vicinity of Horseshoe Lake from 1943 graphically in fig. 78 represent geese at through 1945. least 11/2 years old, whereas the survival In table 40, recoveries of bandings, series that includes recoveries during the 1925-1939, complete through season 6-7 season of banding are in part from juvenile after banding, but omitting recoveries the

1 1925-29 n 1930-34

in 1935-39

YEAR AFTER BANDING

Fig. 79.—Comparative survival (in four 5-year periods) of Canada geese that were at least VA years old (the year after being banded). Curves are based on recovery data from table 40, bandings at Kingsville, Ontario. All curves start with an expression (100 per cent) of the total number of recovered bands that were on geese alive at the beginning of the year following banding. March, 1950 Hanson & S.mith: Canad.a Geese 185

Table 40.—Recoveries in the Mississippi River valley of bands from Canada geese banded at Kingsville, Ontario, in three 5-year periods, 1925-1939. The recoveries are for the first 6 years following the year of band- ing.' r r r

186 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

2000-

1000: FROM HORSESHOE LAKE DATA 600 •FROM KIN6SVILLE, ONTARIO, DATA

300H

UJ > 100: < 60i

^ 30-1 m i '0: 6;

3

T—I—1—I— -|—I—I—I—I—I—I— T—I—1—r— -1— 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 APPROXIMATE YEAR AFTER HATCHING

Fig. 80.—Approximate survival curve (semilogarithmic) for the Canada goose population of the Mississippi flyway, as indicated by age ratios and censuses of geese at Horseshoe Lake, 1940- 1947, and by band recoveries from geese banded at Kingsville, Ontario, 1925-1932. Because geese banded at Kingsville were of unknown age at time of banding, the curve may be only a rough approximation of the actual survival curve.

creasing age after about the fifth or sixth the first place, geese of unknown ages tend year of life, but the evidence is not con- to obscure the actual picture. clusive. The decreasing reliability of data 5 or 6 years after banding, the vary- Longevity ing take by hunters from year to year, Geese as a group are noted for being and the fact that the data represent, in long lived, particularly in captivity;

Table 41.—Recoveries in the Mississippi River valley of bands from Canada geese banded at Kingsville, Ontario, in the autumn, 1925-1932. (Data from table 34.) This table diffefs from table 35 in that here the band recoveries from the year of banding are not included.

1925-1932 Bandings March, 1950 Haxson & Smith: Canada Geese 187

H a. OS u E a o

U!

na

U

188 Illinois Natural History Survky Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. i

Flower (1925) records that two Canada An approximation of the longevity of geese lived to be 29 jears of age and a juvenile geese banded at Horseshoe Lake third 33 years. McAfee (1924) learned in the years of this study may be obtained of one pair of Canada geese that were through computations beginning with tiie mated for 42 years and another pair for following formula over 20 years.' Wilfrid (1924) reported

a gander he believed to be at least 40 years fi yi 4- fi y? 4- h ya etc. old at the time of the bird's death, and S = Leffingwell (1890) reported "as a matter N of history" a captive bird that was killed S stands for average survival after band- when it was 80 years old. Doubtless tliere ing; f,, etc. represent, for each age- 1 are other records in the literature that fa, class involved, the mortality frequency in compare with these. Several instances each of successive years as computed from of Canada geese, once used for decoys and the survival series on page 174: 26.46, later kept as pets, that attained ages of at 11.53, 3.90, 3.73, 1.99 (mortalitv fre- least 20 years have been reported to the quencies:* 73.54, 14.93, 7.63, 0.17, authors of this paper. 1.74) etc. represent the number of years In the wild, few Canada geese approach yj, y2, (1 through 5) following banding applica- these ages. The greatest age attained by

ble to each mortality frequency ; rep- a wild Canada goose, to our knowledge, N resents the sum of the mortality fre- is at least 22 years. This goose was quencies. The mean death date of geese banded at the Miner Sanctuary in the banded at Horseshoe Lake was about mid- spring of 1923 and retrapped in the spring way between mean banding dates. f Hence, of 1932 and again in the spring of 1944. the value calculated for S, 1.4 years, is cor- The life span of the average wild Canada rected by subtracting 0.5 to give average goose after banding, however, proves to survival after banding, 0.9 year. be only a few years, generally less than 3, As juveniles at Horseshoe Lake were but as Austin (1942) has pointed out, about 0.5 year old when banded, this "It is of little importance biologically figure is then added to 0.9 to give the speaking how long members of a species average longevity, 1.4 years. Thus, it live providing their life span is long might be said that the average banded enough for a generation to reach and main- juvenile goose and presumably the aver- tain sexual maturity in order to duplicate age juvenile in the unhanded Horseshoe the achievement of its predecessor." Lake population in the years of this study In most instances, our data are inade- did not live long enough to produce one quate to compute average longevities with brood of young. accuracy. The complete recovery series, table 35, are of limited usefulness, since the geese involved were of unknown age DISCUSSION when banded. These data are further It is axiomatic that the sound manage- complicated by the fact that the number ment of a wildlife species must in the of recoveries during the season of banding last analysis rely on carefully gathered are not representative of usual first-year scientific data. Waterfowl studies usual- mortality. Average longevities calculated ly concern migratory species for which it from data collected for the present study is difficult to secure adequate data would be misleading. While average from all parts of the range. The range of most longevities derived from adequate data waterfowl species is immense, and seme would serve ideally to compare the survival populations shift their distribution within of individuals of different bandings, for a flyway from year to year because of the present study the survival indices changing food, water, and weather con- shown in tables 29, 32, 40, 41, and 42 ditions. are useful and are more appropriate. The aim of most broad studies of water- From these indices and from other data, fowl species probably would be to gather it seems obvious that few Mississippi Val- ley Canada geese live longer than 3 or •Derived by subtraction: 100.00-26.46, 26.46-11.53, 4 years after being banded. 11.53-3.90, etc. t Mean banding date about December 1. March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Canada Ghese 189

information that would allow manage- that since 1932 many of the geese that ment of the species concerned on a fl\ waii' formerly used the Mississippi River from basis, as recently suggested by Gabrielson Cairo, Illinois, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, (1944). Because Canada geese tend to have concentrated in a much smaller area exhibit a greater adherence to their ances- centering on Horseshoe Lake, probably tral range than do ducks, management by because of the refuge there and the large riyways for this species is more suitable amount of grain available to the geese. than it would be for most other waterfowl. Known bags and careful estimates of In fact, the fairly restricted range of the kills indicate that, in the years just pre- various Canada goose populations in vious to 1946, an average of about 20 eastern North America, as shown earlier, per cent of the Canada goose population suggests the need for certain management w intering at Horseshoe Lake was bagged measures for indi\ idual population ranges annually, and that the total annual kill in rather than for an entire flyway. Al- the area averaged about 27 per cent of though additional information concerning the population. In view of the fairl\

the Mississippi \ alle\ goose population is low productivity of the Canada goose, it needed, enough is now available to per- is obvious that a reasonable kill in this mit this population to be managed pri- area was greatly exceeded. Population marily as indi\idual population units. declines at Horseshoe Lake and in the Mississippi flyway as a whole showed that Status flock mortality from all causes combined In 1946, 14 states of the Mississippi had been excessive, and, as hunting losses flnvay (Michigan, AVisconsin, Minnesota, are one type of mortality that can be con- Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, trolled, it was evident that closing the en- Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Ala- tire flyway to shooting was the most bama, Arkansas, and Louisiana) were effective management measure that could closed to the hunting of Canada geese. have been employed. The closed season of an entire flyway was Evidence of increased shooting pressure the first of its kind in the history of this on Canada geese in years just previous to species of waterfowl. The only similar 1946 is illustrated by the survival curves, actions ever taken were those closing the fig. 77, representing data computed from shooting seasons on snow geese and band recoveries from geese banded at the in the Atlantic Coast states. Snow-goose Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary, Kingsville, hunting has been prohibited there since Ontario. These data show that the an- 1931, and brant hunting for more than nual survival rate for that portion of the half of the years since 1933. population migrating through the Kings- The closed season on Canada geese in ville area was lower in the 5 years be- the Mississippi flyway in 1946 was belie\ed ginning in the fall of 1940 than in any necessary for a number of reasons: an comparable period in the previous 15 years, alarming decrease in the number of these fig. 77. Chiefly responsible for this lower geese in the Mississippi flyway from 1940 survival rate were the heavy kills made at

to 1945, as indicated by January inven- Horseshoe Lake ; band recoveries show tory data; markedly increased kills be- that the survival rate of the Horseshoe ginning in 1939, particularly in the region Lake flock was well below the average for of Horseshoe Lake ; a disproportionate the entire Mississippi Vallev' population. kill of juvenile birds and an apparent de- In fact, the survival series for the Horse- creased productivity in 1945, as indicated shoe Lake flock was lower during the

by research at Horseshoe Lake. period 194(J-1945 than it was in the entire The peak number of geese at Horseshoe Mississippi Valley population in the years Lake dropped from about 50,000 in 1943- in which baiting and the use of live decoys 44 to 26,000 in 1945-46. That this de- were permitted, tables 10, 37, and 38. crease represented a real decrease in the Moffitt (1935) was concerned over the flyway population and was not due to by- future of a flock nesting in California

passing of the area by flocks is shown not when he realized an 11.5 per cent first- only by flyway censuses but b\- band-re- season recovery rate from his bandings. covery records. These records indicate Unpublished studies by Cecil S. Williams 190 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 of the United States Fish and Wildlife during the period of field work for this Service at the Bear River marshes, Utah, study lived long enough to see a brood of indicate that the Great Basin population their young on the wing. he dealt with could show a first-year band- When a major portion of the annual recovery rate of 16 per cent and a total kill of a Canada goose flock is at the ex- band-recovery rate of 25 per cent and pense of one age group, data on the total still increase. Total recoveries from number of birds bagged do not reveal Horseshoe Lake bandings were at only the true impact of the kill upon the total about half the rate of total recoveries re- population. At Horseshoe Lake the juve- ported for the Great Basin, but other data niles made up the major part of the kill indicated a heavy kill rate and a decline in the period covered by this study, tables in the Horseshoe Lake population in the 43 and 44. In the autumn of 1943, the years just previous to 1946. While Wil- juveniles made up 56 per cent of the liams' data establish the fact that the population, while 91 per cent of the hunt- Canada goose could withstand heavy er's bag consisted of juveniles. In that shooting losses in the Great Basin, con- year, 37 per cent of the juvenile popula- ditions vary too widely in the various fly- tion at Horseshoe Lake was bagged. The ways to predict on the basis of data from following year, the 1943 generation (then one area (Utah) what the conditions are yearlings) comprised only about 29 per in another (Horseshoe Lake). cent of the total adult birds. The effect Interpolating from fig. 74, curve I, of this differential kill is also shown by which is based on a survival series ob- trap-age ratios of banded survivors in tained for the Horseshoe Lake flock, it later years. In table 43, returns for the appears that only about 16 per cent of years 1943-1947 of geese banded during the juveniles reaching Horseshoe Lake the autumn and winter season previous to

Table 43.—Juvenile-adult ratios of Canada geese at Horseshoe Lake, 1942-43 through 1946-47, ;

xMarch, 1950 Hanson & S.Mr]'>i: Canada Geese 191 each of these years are given. In the in the southward-bound flocks may have autumn of 1942, when only 2.59 juveniles been significant!) altered by shooting in were shot for every adult, the survival that particular year.

rate of juveniles was evidently favorable The subject of cycles in waterfowl is to this age class as 10.82 per cent of the still largely an unexplored field. It does total banded juveniles returned to the not appear to be known generally that, in traps in the following year as compared the arctic, geese, ducks, and loons nuu with 7.92 per cent of the adults, or a ratio be subject to nonbreeding years (Man- of 1.37 juveniles to 1.0 adult. niche 1910, Bertram, Lack, c^ Roberts

In contrast to this survi\al picture is U)34, Bird S: Bird 1940). Keith (1Q37| ". the highly diiierential kill that occurred writes, . . . 1936 was a 'non-breeding in 1943 when the ratio of juveniles to year' [in Northeast Land, Spitzbergen adults shot at the hunting clubs surround- Archipelago] when large numbers of ing the refuge was 10.53 to 1.0, table 43. Ducks and Geese failed to nest; and in

The next year the return to the traps was other parts of the Arctic it had always only 0.56 juvenile (then yearling) to 1 before been found that the Divers [loons] adult. Despite the fact that juveniles were also affected by these years and that bore the brunt of the kill in 1944, table of them too only a small proportion were 44, the net loss to the juvenile segment of breeding." As nonbreeding of v\aterfowl the population was somewhat less, with the has been reported only from high arctic result that the ratio of juvenile ( then areas, it is debatable whether the Canada yearling) to adult returns in the traps goose populations dealt with here are a vear later, in 1945-46, was 1.73 to similarly affected. l.d, table 43. At present, low productivity in blue A relativel.\' higli kill of juveniles geese and snow geese appears to be con- coupled with a .\ear in which productivity fined to summers in which inclement is low is almost certain to place a goose weather directly affects the success of population in a hazardous position. Band- nesting (Soper 1930). In the opinion of ing at Horseshoe Lake indicated a de- Berry (1939), "climate is of the utmost crease in productivity in 1945 from the importance in limiting the survival rate productivity in 1944, table 43. The rel- of goslings on the northern breeding atively small number of young produced grounds." in 1945 may have been related in part to A year of low productivity in Canada the cold weather in the spring of that year geese should be of particular concern to the productivity of mallards also was the administrators who seek to influence greatly reduced in that year. A depres- the kill by hunting regulations, for the sive effect on the intensity of mating or reason that the young birds bear a double on nesting success in many species of birds responsibility. Being more vulnerable to has been attributed to late and cold shooting than the adults, they must con- springs. The following species said to be tribute a disproportionate share of the affected kill, thus might be cited : Canada goose and, secondly, they must survive in sufficient to help (Johnson 1947) ; (Lack numbers reproduce an 1933); eiders and loons (Bird & Bird equivalent of the annual loss in the breed- 1940); moor hen (Huxley 1932); and ing population. Even in a year wlien the house wren (Kendeigh 1942). pioduction of young was not signilicantl\

However, it is conceivable that part of low, 1943, shooting losses in the Horse- the decrease in productivity in 1945 may shoe Lake area were so severe and so have been apparent rather than real. Un- greatly at the expense of the juveniles that doubtedly juveniles contribute a larger only a small proportion of this generation proportion of the kill during migration survived to reach the minimum breeding than do the adults, but the extent to which age of 2 years. shooting north of the Horseshoe Lake

Game Refuge is selective of juveniles is Management not known. Because the kill between the What can be done to insure the future refuge and the Canadian border in 1945 of the Mississippi Valley geese? Lentil was much larger than usual, the age ratios recent years, two prime measures for con- 192 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 serving waterfowl, hunting regulations and the Canada goose population does a signif- refuges, have been fairly successfully icant increase in the number of these geese used in the management of this group. bagged by Indians occur. This relatively As applied to the population of geese dealt constant relationship is evidence that the with in this report, it is apparent that these goose kill by natives cannot be considered measures were not very effective in the the direct cause of any considerable popula- period of field work. tion decrease that might be reported in In Canada.— Several factors minimize the United States from any of the annual the need for any immediate change in January inventories. measures relating to the Mississippi In the United States.— In 1944 and \^alley population while in Canada. The 1945, when season bag limits were im- relatively inaccessible nature of the Cana- posed for Alexander County, Illinois, dian breeding grounds insures adequate table 10, it was a relatively easy matter protection for the flock during the actual to limit the kill of geese in the Horseshoe breeding season. Lake area to approximately the predeter- The kill in Canada is not excessive, and mined figures. The facility with which a reduction of the early spring kill on the the day-to-day kill can be tallied is breeding grounds would be difficult be- perhaps the outstanding advantage of en- cause much of this kill is virtually neces- couraging a portion of the flock to utilize sary for the survival of native Indians. the refuge there. The season bag limit Furthermore, our kill and population data in the above instances was determined by indicate that the annual rate of kill (the the trend of the population in prior years, percentage of birds taken from the re- but, to be fully effective, management turning population in the spring) by the should anticipate future trends based upon

Indians is relatively constant. In general, the current composition of the population. only when there is an actual increase in With the data at hand on the Canada

Table 45.—Calculated losses and reproductive gains for the Horseshoe Lake Canada goose flock between the autumn of 1944, and the autumn of 1945.'

Classification March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese IW

goose in the Mississippi River valley, it is reduce competition among hunters would possible to arrive at a practical estimate materially aid in reducing crippling losses. of the maximum kill that can be tolerated. But a large share of the responsibility will A method b\ which management of the rest with the hunter himself, who must Mississippi \'alley population might pro- restrain the natural desire to "give a high ceed is best illustrated by a concrete one a ride." Some hunters hope to bag example, table 45. Similar calculations geese with greater ease by using magnum based on sex and age ratios from trapping, shotguns. However, it is open to debate and made b>' the authors in the spring of wiiether more geese are bagged than 1945, forecast a decreased population for crippled by such guns because of the out- the autumn of 1945. Censuses during of-range shooting their possession en- the autumn and the inventory of Januarj', courages. At least in one instance a 10- 1946, proved the accuracy of this pre- gauge magnum shotgun is known to have diction. failed to li\e up to its owner's expectation ; Since the autumn flight in any year a tally of empty casings from this shot- depends to a large extent on the produc- gun in one pit, presumably fired to bag tion of young in the spring of that \ear, it the limit of two geese, was 22, as against is necessary to know the approximate the average of 9 cartridge casings per number of breeding females and to have hunter for all pits inspected. some measure of the nesting success on It is clear from tables 15 and 10, show- the breeding grounds to predict the ing kill and hunting regulations in the autumn flock population with reasonable Horseshoe Lake area, that hunting restric- accuracy. In\entory on the breeding tions were not always successful in re- grounds would be difficult because of the ducing the kill to the desired extent, but. nature of the terrain, but the use of if various measures instituted to lower planes would aid tremendously in such the annual kill had not been taken, it is work. For the present, and until more probable that a large proportion of the data are available, the average produc- Canada geese using the Horseshoe Lake tivity of the population might be calcu- area would have been shot by the end of lated on the basis of three young (brought 1945. to flying stage) per adult female. Under normal conditions, the duration If the flock population has been fairlj' of the hunting season can be expected to stable for several years or is on the in- show a fairly direct relationship to the kill, crease, a bag of 10 per cent of the number but, when the natural wariness of the wintering in the Horseshoe Lake area geese has been reduced, as at Horseshoe might prove to be within the limits of what Lake, the length of the hunting season the flock could stand without decreasing in may show no correlation with the kill, size. Even this kill might be too high figs. 52 and 53. if kills north of Horseshoe Lake were un- Pirnie (1939) has emphasized that usually large in a gi\en autumn, if nesting "Changing habits of these birds [Canada success was low the previous spring, or if geese] may create new hazards for them sex and age ratios were seriously un- and reipu're even more stringent regula- balanced. When the population is \ery tions." The behavior of the Horseshoe low, the kill of a single bird constitutes Lake flock in recent years and its relation overshooting. to shooting has already been discussed, but A reduction in the crippling loss would it should again be emphasized that restric- allow the season bag limit in the Horse- tions alone cannot be expected to safe- shoe Lake area to be increased. The num- guard it. ber of geese crippled and lost to hunters Refuges form an important part of our each year in the area is needlessly high. system for the preservation of waterfowl. An estimate of cripples not retrieved and Whether or not any individual refuge soon dying is placed at 30 per cent of the proves of value will depend to a certain number of geese bagged. Certain ad- extent upon its management and also upon ministrative measures can be taken to re- its size. Leopold (1931) stated the chief duce the per cent of cripples not retrieved. problem in regard to the Horseshoe Lake For instance, adequate spacing of pits to Game Refuge soon after this refuge was 194 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

created. "The question of whether public prohibited the placing of shooting pits refuges should be surrounded by public within 75 to 150 yards of the boundary of shooting grounds is frequently debated. the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge. This Horseshoe Lake in Alexander County, buffer zone, which was intended to allow Illinois, is a good place to study the ques- the geese to attain safe heights before tion." reaching the shooting pits and blinds was Twelve years after this statement was unquestionably insufficient, since many of published the answer was forcibly given the geese leaving the refuge encountered by Gabrielson (1943). "Because of its shot pellets 75 yards away from the first [Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge] attrac- line of pits. Although the Miner Sanc- tiveness to Canada geese, small size, lack tuary consists of only 400 acres and sup- of food, and peculiar relation to surround- ports an even greater density of geese than ing lands, it has become a slaughter pen is ever experienced at Horseshoe Lake, rather than a refuge." excessive kills have not occurred near this The breakdown in wariness that oc- Canadian refuge in late years. Responsi- curred was perhaps more serious to the ble in part for the small kills reported in future of the Horseshoe Lake flock than the vicinity of the Miner Sanctuary is a the reduction in its size. The steps be- buffer zone that surrounds the ponds and lieved necessary to re-establish wildness feeding grounds for a distance of a mile.

in the flock were as follows : ( 1 ) Establish When geese leave the refuge, they have refuge areas on the nearby islands and sufficient space in which to gain altitude bars of the Mississippi River or on lands before passing over the shooting grounds. adjacent to the river; (2) disperse the The present food resources of the geese from Horseshoe Lake to these bars Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge are insuffi-

and islands ; that is, drive them back to cient to winter more than 20,000 geese, their original habitat; (3) insofar as and probably only 15,000 can be accom- possible, reduce contact between human modated to best advantage. When the beings (both the public and refuge per- corn crop and wheat brovvse on the re- sonnel) and the geese. fuge are exhausted, and sometimes before In the past years in which the geese this occurs, the flock feeds on unharvested used both the river bars and the refuge, and waste grain and on the green plants they retained their natural wildness; coin- of winter wheat in fields of the surround- cident with their almost complete depend- ing countryside—occasionally at a con- ence on the refuge for food and grit, they siderable loss to farmers who do not rent lost much of their wildness. The river their fields to hunters. Unless the flock

refuge might act as a final sanctuary for is broken up and scattered to other areas the flock should it be disturbed for any in the flyway, the local food conditions

reason at Horseshoe Lake, and ideally it must be improved, either through the ac- should contain the bulk of the flock at quisition of more land or by an artificial most times. feeding program. The artificial program Canada geese will feed by moonlight, at is wholly undesirable unless it is carried daybreak, or at dusk, if they are disturlsed out on an isolated tract of land. On the while feeding during the day. This fact other hand, the development of a river may offer a partial solution to the Horse- refuge would certainly increase the flock's shoe Lake problem. If the geese were usage of natural foods—the grasses, sedges, permitted to feed at the Horseshoe Lake and switch willows on which the geese Game Refuge only during the hours of formerly fed. dawn and dusk, the re-establishment of The present size of the Horseshoe Lake wildness might occur and with it a reduc- Game Refuge is woefully inadequate for tion in the rate of kill. We have a prece- the geese using the area, as experiences dent for such a course of action in the there and elsewhere have demonstrated. A operation of the Miner Sanctuary, where program involving purchase of additional the geese feed only in the early morning lands has been planned by the State De- hours and at dusk, spending the remainder partment of Conservation for several of their time roosting out on Lake Erie. years, but has been blocked by the in- State regulations just previous to 1946 flated prices of lands in the area—inflated March, 1950 Hanson & Smith : Canada Geese 195

prices resulting in part from the commer- da.\- and were allowed a possession limit of cialization of goose hunting. two birds. Census data showed that, between 1942 The response by the geese to greater and 1945, the Canada goose in the Mis- protection has been most heartening, their sissippi River valley suffered a marked comeback demonstrating both that the kill decline in population. Kill records showed by hunters in the United States was a an increase in the annual bag beginning major suppressive factor on the popula- in 1939, and banding data revealed a con- tion, and that this population, given op- current decrease in goose survival for the portunity, possesses strong recuperative same period. The conclusion must be powers. ^Vith a capital investment of reached that the Mississippi Valley 49,000* birds in the I\Iississippi flyway in Canada goose population was shot too the winter of 1945-46, interest in the heavily in that period and that stringent form of 1946 reproduction was reinvested protection was necessary to insure perpet- as capital gain by virtue of the closed uation of this population. season. Inventory in January, 1947, re- vealed a capital gain of approximately 25 PRESENT SITUATION per cent, table 7. This reco\ery by an almost bankrupt population so encouraged The time lapse between completion of the committee on regulations that a the field work reported here and publica- di\idend, in the form of an open season, tion of this article has been sufficient to was declared permissible for the autumn permit an evaluation of some of the meas- of 1947 and again for the autumn of 1948. ures recently taken to assure the future The dividend in the Horseshoe Lake area of the Canada goose population of the in 1947 was 1,644 geese bagged by hunt-

Mississippi River valley. The decision to ers; in 1948 it was 2,587 geese bagged close the valley to Canada goose hunting by hunters. In addition to this number, in 1946 was based partly on evidence other geese, estimated at 2 000, were shot gained from banding that the geese winter- illegally within the buffer area closed to ing at the Horseshoe Lake Game Refuge hunting outside the refuge. We do not were suffering unprecedented losses from have the data at hand to show what the hunting and were being killed at a rate profits were to hunters in other states far greater than the flock could stand and in the flyway, but that the goose business still maintain its numbers. In addition could afford the dividends is shown by the was the evidence from annual inventories recent summar\' of capital stock given in that the flyway population was at an table 46. alarmingly low level. The recovery made by the Mississippi In 1947, the shooting of Canada geese \'alley population has not gone unnoticed was again permitted in the Mississippi by the Indians who trap and hunt on the River valley, but on a restricted scale. breeding grounds before the actual com- The season opened on November 4 and mencement of nesting. In August, 1949, closed on December 3. The bag limit the senior author learned at Fort Albany was reduced to one bird per day and the that the Indians there had observed more possession limit was also one bird. To in- geese in the spring of 1949 than at any sure against a return of heavy kills in the other time in recent years. Similarly, Horseshoe Lake region, an area in the questionnaire answers received from Ray- region totaling approximately 15,000 acres mond M. Alaine of AVeenusk, September was declared closed by proclamation of 21, 1949, stated that the Indians at that the President of the United States with post had not seen as many geese in any the joint support of the Governor of other years of the last 10 as thev did in Illinois. By this action, a buffer area, the fall of 1948. roughly 2 miles in depth, was created Future management of the Horseshoe around the Horseshoe Lake Game Ref- Lake flock bv the United States Fish and uge. In 1948, the hunting season opened ' Louisiana, This figure indudes geese from western _ on October 29 and closed November 27. birds that possibly belong to the Eastern Prairie popula- tion and tiiat should not be included in the Mississippi During this 30-day season, hunters were Valley population. Hence, it exaggerates the size of the permitted to bag two Canada geese per Mississippi Valley population for 1945-46. ,

195 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Table 46.—Population of Canada geese in 2. Soon after the refuge was formed, the Mississippi River valley in 1947-48 and increasing numbers of Canada geese, de- inventory, except as 1948-49, from January coyed from their traditional wintering noted. grounds along the Mississippi River by the food and protection offered, began to Season use this refuge. In most recent winters State or Other Area the refuge has attracted about 50 per cent of the Mississippi Valley Canada goose

Michigan. . population. With the increase in the Wisconsin Indiana size of the flock at the refuge, there was Illinois (total) a loss of wariness on the part of the geese, County Mason accompanied by a tremendous increase in Horseshoe Lake Craborchard Lake, William- the annual kill. son County 30,000 3. In the eastern half of the United Lyerly Lake, Union County 12,450 States there are two subspecies of Canada Miscellaneous areas 1,004 geese. The easternmost race, Branta Kentucky 7,200 geese Mississippi 7,250 canadensis canadensis, comprises the Tennessee 9,450 of the North Atlantic population. The -Arkansas 12,000 other race, Branta canadensis interior, Missouri 5,000* which breeds principally west, south, and Louisiana 10,000 Total 159,523 east of James and Hudson bays, is com- posed of four subgroups, each of which constitutes a separate flyway population. * Most of these geese were a part of tfie Rock wintering in the Horseshoe Lake area. The four subgroups are as follows : the South Atlantic, the Southeast, the Mis- Wildlife Service and the Illinois Depart- sissippi Valley, and the Eastern Prairie. ment of Conservation envisions the break- 4. The main breeding range of the ing up of this concentration and dividing Mississippi Valley geese is believed to lie it among four other refuge areas: Crab- within the western limits of the Paleozoic orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Wil- Basin west of James Bay and south of liamson Count}', Illinois; Lyerly Lake Hudson Bay. The majority of the nest- State Refuge and Public Shooting ing geese of this population are found in

Grounds, Union County, Illinois ; the relatively restricted areas of the vast, low- Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Mis- lying, muskeg-covered plain of the region. revealed that the souri ; and the Kentucky Woodlands 5. Aerial observations National Wildlife Refuge bordering the type of muskeg attracting the greatest Tennessee River south of Paducah, Ken- numbers of geese is one that is studded tucky. To implement the dispersal of with potholes of a few acres to about 30 geese from Horseshoe Lake, planes, guns, acres in size, so closely grouped that often bombs and various other pyrotechnic de- only a narrow strip of land or floating vices were used to frighten the geese vegetation separates one from another. in 1947, 1948, and 1949. That this dis- 6. Most nesting pairs of Mississippi persal program is meeting with success is Valley geese are concentrated in produc- evident from the data presented in table tion centers, but, as most of these produc- 46. Provided with these other areas, an tion centers are of considerable size, ample food supply, and adequate legal pro- scattered nesting, with one or two pairs tection, the Canada goose population in to a small lake, seems to be the rule west the Mississippi valley faces a future that of James Bay and south of Hudson Bay. seems assured for some years to come. 7. Before the southward migration of Mississippi Valley geese begins, about SUMMARY August 15, some family groups and small flocks begin a series of local flights, the \. The Horseshoe Lake Wildlife Ref- termini of which are favored feeding uge, located at the southern tip of Illinois grounds along the west coast of James near Cairo and created in 1927 by the Bay and the south coast of Hudson Bay, Illinois Department of Conservation, the tundra of Cape Henrietta Maria and totals approximately 3,700 acres. the coastal marsh of Akimiski Island. The ;

March, 1950 Hansox & Smith : Canada Geese 197 tundra of Cape Henrietta Maria is route. The spring flights through the favored because of the quantity of berries Kingsville region are comprised chiefly usually available there. of South Atlantic geese. 8. At least half of the Alississippi 13. Autumn migration of Mississippi Valley geese do not fly to the coastal areas Valley geese occurs over a 3-month period before migrating, but lea\e directly from the last geese to reach Horseshoe Lake in their muskeg breeding grounds and strike appreciable numbers arrive in early south on a broad front. These are be- December. Much of the late flight rep- lieved to be the geese that cross the resents the exodus of geese from the

Canadian border into eastern Minnesota Miner Sanctuary when feeding there is and the upper peninsula of Michigan. curtailed. 9. While probably at least a few 14. The southward movement of the Canada geese in migration pass over most Canada geese from the breeding grounds areas of the Mississippi flyway each year, may be compared with a segment of the band recoveries and observations indicate concentric waves produced by an object that the following routes are most fre- striking the surface of a body of water. quently used : from the Miner Sanctuary Geese that leave the breeding grounds to Horseshoe Lake via Lake St. Mary, the earliest are believed to winter in the most Wabash and Ohio rivers; from Saginaw southerly areas of the flyway. Those that Bay southwest across the lower peninsula leave the breeding grounds last are be- of Michigan to the W. K. Kellogg Bird lieved to winter in the most northerly Sanctuary area and the lower Kalamazoo areas of the wintering grounds. River; southward along both shores of 15. In spring, the first flocks generally Lake Michigan. Migration through Wis- arrive on the breeding grounds between consin is principally in the eastern half of April 15 and 25, 2 to 3 weeks before the the state. The west shore of Lake Michi- breakup of the major rivers. gan is followed by appreciable numbers 16. Winter concentrations of Canada of geese. Two other routes appear to be geese occur in the region of Kingsville, favored : ( 1 ) the valley of the Wisconsin Ontario, westward to southern Wisconsin, River; (2) Green Bay south to Lake and south to the Gulf Coast.

VV'innebago, the flight probably splitting 17. Although the Canada goose is south of Lake AVinnebago, one section widely reputed to be an extremely wary going to the Lake Geneva area, the other and difiicult species to hunt, the behavior following the Rock River valley. Migra- of this species at Horseshoe Lake in re- tion through Illinois appears to take place cent years has contradicted this reputa- on a fairly broad front although the tion. Believed responsible for the high Illinois River valley is particularly favored. vulnerability of Canada geese to shooting 10. Band-recovery data indicate that in the vicinity of this refuge are the turnover in the population wintering at psychologically pacifying effect of large Horseshoe Lake is negligible. Geese that numbers of geese at rest on a relatively are decoyed into this refuge usually re- small area ; the frequent sight of man in main there for the rest of the season. a benign role; and the decreased mobility 11. A portion of the Mississippi Valley of the flock when food is abundant on the geese migrating through the Kingsville, refuge, as well as on adjacent hunting Ontario, region do not visit the Horse- areas. shoe Lake Refuge but by-pass it to the 18. Goose hunting in Illinois, once a east, probably via the Tennessee River, sport carried out in widely scattered areas and winter on the lower Mississippi. of the state, is now confined largely to the 12. The northward migration in spring Illinois River valley and the Horseshoe is more nearly on a directly north and Lake region. south axis than routes taken in the 19. In the period 1944 through 1947, autumn. The flights of Mississippi the kill of Canada geese of the Mis- V^alley geese that stop at the Miner Sanc- sissippi flyway by Canadian Indians is tuary in the autumn do not reappear computed to have been between 4,000 and there in the spring in appreciable num- 5,500 or from about 8 to 10 per cent of bers; presumably they return to the the number of birds that attained the breeding grounds by a more westerly breeding grounds in the spring. Approxi- 198 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3 mately 25 per cent of the total number of in the juvenile and adult age classes, Mississippi Valley Canada geese bagged in 1940-1946. Bag-inspection figures showed recent years have been taken by Indians. no significant preponderance of either sex 20. The waterfowl kill made by the in either age class, 1940-1945. Indians of the James Bay region is some- 29. Nesting success of geese is not ap- times vital to actual survival of the In- preciably affected by the Canadian Indians, dians. Blue geese and snow geese greatly since the bulk of the kill is made in early outrank the Canada goose in importance spring before geese have begun to nest. during the fall hunt along the coastal Foxes may have a slight effect on nesting marshes; in spring, when the Indians are success when their other prey species, which trapping inland along the rivers and appear to be cj'clic, are low in numbers. creeks, the principal kill of Canada geese 30. In 7 years of trapping and bag occurs, while relatively few blue geese inspection at Horseshoe Lake, the age and snow geese are shot at this time. ratios obtained varied from 57 to 204 21. The restocking of beaver in some juveniles per 100 older geese. In 1944- areas of the Canadian goose breeding 45, trapping indicated that 55 per cent of range is beginning to relieve some of the the population consisted of juveniles. hunting pressure on Canada geese. Trapping in the following year indicated 22. The kill in the Horseshoe Lake area that the proportion of juveniles had first began greatly to exceed what the flock dropped to 36 per cent. could stand in 1939 when a kill of 17,300 31. Average flock size, computed from geese was made. The average number frequency counts of flocks of nine or of geese bagged in the Horseshoe Lake fewer geese on the wintering grounds, area in the autumns of 1939 through 1945 may provide a quick means of appraising was about 9,800. In the autumns of breeding success of geese in the previous 1943, 1944, and 1945 the bag amounted spring. to 23, 19, and 18 per cent, respectively, 32. Low survival of Canada geese of the number of geese that arrived at the banded at the Jack Miner Bird Sanc- refuge in those years. tuary, 1940-1944, is believed to have been 23. The annual bag of geese in Illinois brought about chiefly by the tremendous in areas other than Horseshoe Lake increase in the kills made in the region of averaged approximately 1,100 birds in the Horseshoe Lake. period covered by this report. 33. Mortality data calculated from trap- 24. Next to Illinois, Michigan made ping and band-recovery figures show that the largest kills of Mississippi Valley the Horseshoe Lake flock had a lower sur- geese, 1938-1944; the annual bag was vival rate during the period of this study probably between 1,000 and 3,000 birds. than did comparable banding classes from 25. Bag inspections at hunting clubs the Miner Sanctuary. near Horseshoe Lake showed that juvenile 34. Mortality indices, the average of geese made up a high percentage of the mortality rates for three years after band- total kill, 1940-1945. In 1943, juveniles ing, provide a possible basis for com- were about eight times as vulnerable to paring mortality between different popu- hunting as adults. lations and banding classes of geese. 26. Crippling losses among geese at 35. Survival data for the Horseshoe Horseshoe Lake in recent j'ears are esti- Lake flock, 1941-1945, indicate that the mated to have been equivalent to about average juvenile did not live long enough 30 per cent of the annual bag. to produce a brood of young. 27. Causes of death among Canada 36. In 1946, no open hunting season geese at Horseshoe Lake include lead on Canada geese was permitted in the poisoning (from ingestion of lead pellets), Mississippi River valley. In 1947, shoot- bound crop (perhaps a result of lead ing on a restricted scale was permitted. poisoning), tracheitis, and aspergillosis. 37. Increased protection of the Mis- 28. Sex ratios obtained from trapping sissippi Valley Canada geese plus certain geese at Horseshoe Lake show that there other management practices resulted in were slight, but statistically significant, an appreciable gain in the population by larger numbers of males than of females the fall and winter of 1948-49. APPENDIX A THE SOUTHEAST POPULATION

ONE of the important findings from our sources: letters to Jack Miner from local study of the Jack Miner banding data, sportsmen or officials; personal conversation as they rehite to the Horseshoe Lake prob- with W. P. Baldwin, Jr., United States Fish lems, is the existence of a distinct and here- and Wildlife Service biologist, stationed at tofore unrecognized group of Canada geese Port Wentworth, Georgia ; and records that winter in the inland areas of Virginia, in the files of the Division of Refuges, North Carolina, , Georgia, United States Fish and Wildlife Service. and Alabama and on the Gulf Coast of Following is a summary of the wintering Florida. Because management of the Mis- grounds of the Southeast population, as in- sissippi V^alley goose population should be dicated by band recoveries and other data. guided to some extent by a knowledge of neighboring goose populations, it seems Migration Routes desirable to include in this paper a brief In the autumn migration, the range of the summary of the breeding and wintering Southeast population overlaps that of the ranges, as well as the migration paths, of Mississippi Valley population between James the Canada geese of the newly defined Bay and the Miner Sanctuary. At the group, to which we have given the name latter point, however, band recoveries indi- Southeast population. cate that the birds of the Southeast popula- tion split off from the Mississippi Valley Breeding Range population and fan out south and southeast To date there have been no recoveries over a number of courses. The paucity of of Horseshoe Lake goose bands in the recoveries between the Miner Sanctuary Moose River district of James Bay or at and the eastern and southern slopes of the the extreme south end of this bay, while Appalachian Mountains suggests that most fair numbers of bands have been recovered of the geese of the Southeast population in that region from geese banded at the make few stops en route to their wintering Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary near Kingsville, quarters. Ontario. Large numbers of Miner bands The routes taken by these geese on their from the autumn flight have been recovered northward migration are probably mainly in the inland portions of the southeastern to the west of their autumn migration paths, states. It appears from band recoveries as band recoveries show that comparatively that the Southeast geese nest from the coun- few of the birds retrace their autumn flight try drained by the Moose River, south and through the Kingsville, Ontario, region. east to the Nottaway or Rupert river country. In an area north of the Moose Winter Concentrations River, the breeding grounds of these geese The wintering grounds of the geese of merge with those of the Mississippi Valley the Southeast population lie mainly in the population; east of the Nottaway River, or Piedmont region east and south of the Rupert River, they merge with the nesting Appalachian Mountains, and in some parts grounds of the South Atlantic geese, most of the coastal plain. The wintering range of which migrate through the Kingsville can be better understood if the distribution area only in spring. of the recoveries from the southeastern Census data on the flyway of the South- states in figs. 12-21 is compared with the east population are meager. Because the physiographic features of these states shown scattered flocks were not recognized as in fig. 81. Band recoveries show that geese components of this distinct population, their resort to nearly every river of appreciable significance was lost in the usual method of size that dissects the Piedmont and the lumping census figures by states. Popula- coastal plain, but that the numerous reser- tion figures presented below are from three voirs are particularly favored. The coastal

[ 199 200 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

/ { March, 1950 Hanson & Smith: Canada Geese 201

along the Great Pee Dee River and at cation, March, 1949). Another 300 fre- Ansonville has recently totaled about 3,000 quented the section of the Savannah River (personal communication, March, 1949). bordering McCormick County. The Santee South Carolina.—Pickens (1928) re- Cooper Reservoir area harbored about 250 ported the Canada goose to be a common Canada geese, the Cape Romain sector of winter resident in upper South Carolina, the Atlantic Coast about 500, and Winyah a statement that is amply supported by the Bay a small but unknown number. The Miner returns of autunui-banded geese. Winyah Bay flock may be only a segment According to Ernest F. Holland, manager of of the Cape Romain flock that segregates the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife out from time to time. Data on populations Refuge (letter to the Jack Miner Bird at the Santee Cooper and Cape Romain Sanctuary, December 18, 1946), about National Wildlife refuges in other recent 5.000 Canada geese used this refuge and years are given in table 47. the adjacent Great Pee Dee River basin Alabama.—^According to Howell (1924), in the late autumn of 1945. An additional Canada geese in Alabama are "probably 2,500 were reported using the private most abundant on the Tennessee River in waterfowl refuge of Lockhart Gaddy, lo- the vicinity of Muscle Shoals." They are cated near Ansonville, North Carolina. "numerous every winter in the vicinity of Judged from band recoveries, Lake Murray, Montgoinery. On the coast they apparently an impoundment of the Congaree River, is are not common, though found occasional- probably one of the more important bodies ly." Since 1942, 300 to 900 Canada geese of water for Canada geese in South Caro- have been reported wintering in the vicinity lina. Wateree Pond, a much smaller res- of the Wheeler Reservoir, according to data ervoir on the Wateree River, appears to in the files of the LTnited States Fish and be second in importance. Other rivers used Wildlife Service. by geese are the Broad, the Saluda (Lake Sixty per cent of the Miner-banded geese Greenwood), and the Savannah (from reported killed in Alabama were shot in Anderson to Aiken counties). Tallapoosa, Coosa, and Elmore counties. In several years prior to the winter of Over half of the recoveries from these 1948—1-9, about 2(X) Canada geese wintered three counties are from the vicinity of Mar- in the vicinity of McBee in Chesterfield tin Lake, an impoundment of the Tallapoosa County and about 250 on Lake Murray River; the remaining returns from these (W. P. Baldwin, Jr., personal communi- counties are from areas adjoining the Coosa

Table 47.—Numbers of Canada geese wintering at three national wildlife refuges in the Southeast flyway, 1934-1945. 202 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

River impoundments (Lay, Mitchell, and Porter, Apalachicola, Florida, winter of Jordan lakes). The flock wintering on 1927-28). Martin Lake numbered about 400 in the Future Status winter of 1939-40 (letter to Jack Miner from C. Robinson of Alexander City, Ala- Although the Canada geese of the South- bama). east population winter over an enormous Georgia.—Band recoveries from Georgia area, extending from Virginia to Alabama are spotty, suggesting that no great con- and the Gulf Coast of Florida, their total centrations of geese occur anywhere in the number is not large. With the exception state, possibly in part because of the com- of the flock in the St. Marks area, most of parative lack of large reservoirs or natural the concentrations can be classified as being lakes. The Savannah River from Hart either small to medium in size and, in the County to Richmond County appears to be aggregate, may match the St. Marks flock in a favored wintering area; the Ocmulgee size. Therein may lie the security of the (Lloyd Shoals Reservoir between Jasper Southeast population. The small concentra- and Butts counties), the Oconee (Washing- tions, by virtue of their size, do not attract ton and Laurens counties), and the Flint other than local hunters, whose kill is River (Pike, Upson, Taylor, and Craw- probably fairly light. The paucity of band ford counties) are other sectors used by recoveries from the St. Marks area suggests Canada geese. the possibility that the flock there is afforded Many of the recoveries from Georgia, adequate protection by the St. Marks Na- however, may be from migrating geese tional Wildlife Refuge. rather than from wintering flocks. As a In any management measures involving number of the recoveries are from areas of the Southeast population, recognition should the state directly north of the St. Marks be given to the fact that the scattered flocks National Wildlife Refuge on the Florida are but segments of a more or less con-

Gulf Coast, it seems likely that birds en tiguous population on the breeding grounds. route to St. Marks contribute appreciably These segments should be carefully censused to the kills made in Georgia. at the time of the annual January inventory In 1941, 150 to 200 Canada geese were and the extent of the kill in each wintering reported using Lake Harding, an impound- area should also be determined within fairly ment created by Bartletts Ferry dam on close limits. To help insure the perpetua- the Chattahoochee River near West Point tion of this population, it may be necessary (letter to Jack Miner from William B. to declare at least a portion of all reservoirs Fuller, West Point, Georgia, January 10, important to wintering geese, and some ad- 1941). jacent land areas, inviolate to hunting. Florida.—The St. Marks National Wild- Insofar as their habitat requirements in life Refuge, consisting of 54,681 acres, is winter are concerned, Canada geese can be believed to contain the greatest single con- considered adaptive birds. They are quick centration of geese in the Southeast popu- to respond to changing agricultural prac- lation. Although between 11,000 and 15,000 tices, to the creation of reservoirs, and to the geese have wintered at this refuge since formation of new refuges by changes in 1941, table 46, there have been singularly their habits and their local distribution. few band recoveries from Miner-banded W. P. Baldwin, Jr., reported (personal geese in the surrounding country. This communication, March, 1949) that in- fact suggests that either the bulk of these creasing numbers of Canada geese are win- geese by-pass the Miner Sanctuary on their tering in northern Georgia, where they are southward migration, and hence are not resorting to the cultivated fields. At least banded, or that the kill in the St. Marks some of these geese in former years must area is relatively small. From about have migrated down to the St. Marks area. 10,000 geese wintering along a 100-mile Such "reshuffles" in the population and the stretch of coast during the late twenties, problems that arise from them should be the annual kill was said to be several recognized in any attempts to manage the hundred (letter to Jack Miner from R. G. Southeast geese.

I : A

APPENDIX B CLASSIFICL\TION OF THE CANADA GEESE OF THE GENUS BRA NT

PROBABLY few other groups of North Richardson's goose. [Branta cana- American birds have presented the densis hiitchinsi of Kortright taxonomists with greater challenge than the (1942) and others and sometimes white-cheelced geese of the genus, Bratita. known as Hutchins's goose.] Before the distribution and the relationships Taverner (1931) has pointed out that of the various races can be fully understood, several of the races are markedly distinct much collecting and banding will have to be in the field, but as skins in the laboratory dune on the breeding grounds. The com- they are separated only with difficulty. plexity of the problem is apparent when it According to James Mark, an Indian living is realized that the race Braiita canadensis at Eastmain, four different kinds of interior alone can be broken down into four Canada geese are recognized by the James fairly distinct breeding populations. As Bay Indians. The bird called Muskego might be expected, the literature on the nisku by the Cree Indian, meaning "large genus is fairly voluminous and often con- swamp goose," is the breeding goose of tradictory. Some plumage variations once the muskeg, Branta canadensis interior, thought to have taxonomic significance have fig. 82. The "coast goose," ll'innipego been shown to be merely variations within nisku, is restricted to the James Bay coasts single populations (Taverner 1931, Elder and observed only while on migration. It 1946. Hanson 19494). In the latest re- is reported as being smaller than the swamp vision of the genus by Hellmayr & Conover goose, more vociferous, and having a rela- (1948), the characters of the downy plum- tively shorter neck, a description that fits age were taken into consideration. This the lesser Canada goose, Branta leueopareia factor considerably enhances the reliability leueopareia. Richardson's goose, Branta of their study over studies previously made. hutchinsii is called Apichishkish, meaning They list the various members of the genus literally a small goose that has attained its as follows full growth, fig. 82. The fourth kind Branta leueopareia leiuopareia recognized by the Indians on the south and (Brandt). Tundra goose. [The east coasts of James Bay is described as lesser Canada goose of Kort- being the largest of the group and possessing

right (1942) and others.] a brown breast, a feature from which it has Branta leueopareia occidenialis derived its name, Kaoosoupasau-iit nisku. (Baird). West Coast goose. Geese of this kind are reported to breed [The Western Canada goose of farther north and are called the Fort George Kortright (1942) and others.] (Quebec) geese by the Moose Indians. The Branta minima Ridgway. Cackling brown breast may represent staining by goose. iron-rich waters of the areas frequented

Branta canadensis parvipes (Cas- by this bird, which may possibly be B. c. sin). Lesser Canada goose. [See interior. Aldrich (1946) regarding the res- It is of interest to note that Blakiston urrection of parvipes.^ (1863) also reported that an Indian on the Branta canadensis moffitti Aid- Saskatchewan River described four dif- rich. Great Basin Canada goose. ferent kinds of "grey geese," the common Branta canadensis interior Todd. gray goose, a short-necked goose, a small Todd's Canada goose. goose, and a large goose, descriptive names Branta canadensis canadensis that roughly fit the forms described by the (Linnaeus). Eastern Canada Indians of James Bay. goose. The chief of the Indians around Lake Branta hutchinsii (Richardson). St. Martin, Manitoba, told Taverner

[203] Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. 3

Fig. 82.— Profile views of (upper head) an interior Canada goose, Branta canadensis interior and (lower head) a Richardson's goose, Branta Initchinsii. Both specimens are juvenile males.

(Shortt & Waller 1937) that three kinds of without encountering an individual that at- Canada geese visit their area. The descrip- tained the weight of 12 pounds.

tions of these three varieties fit canadensis, In the light of our present knowledge, the leucopareia, and hutchinsii. According to very large, almost legendary Canada goose Taverner's unpublished notes, which Shortt known to many Indian groups in the boreal & Waller quote, an immense kind of forest of Canada might be explained by Canada goose is also traditional with these individuals of the race Branta canadensis

Indians and "is so rare that it is known moffitti that have been occasionally taken only by report. It is probably mythical." north of their normal range. Such occasional Despite Taverner's disbelief at one time invasions of the breeding grounds of one in the reality of a very large goose, Mer- subspecies of Canada geese by nonbreeding shon (1925) leaves little doubt that a very members of another adjacent subspecies large variety of honker existed. McAtee would not be unexpected. (In the above (1944) has also commented on records of case the invasion of the range of B. c. in-

large geese from the Plains region. Aid- terior by individuals of B. c. moffitti or an rich (1946) has now recognized this large even larger extinct variety.) In the summer

race of Canada geese, giving it the name of 1949, Peter Scott, British ornithologist, moffitii. Individuals of this race, presum- and the senior author observed several flocks ably adult males, are known to range as of nonbreeding "honkers," B. c. jnoffitti or high as 14 to 16 pounds, and even greater interior, in the Perry River (Northwest weights than these have been reported. Territories) breeding grounds of the smaller Elder (1946) weighed 2,179 geese and the tundra Canada goose, skins of which have senior author weighed several thousand been identified by the senior author as those more geese at Horseshoe Lake, Illinois, of Branta leucopareia leucopareia. LITERATURE CITED

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Renison, Robert John 1944. The miracle of spring. In Wednesday morning. McClelland & Stewart, Toronto.

Richardson, Sir John 1851. Arctic searching expedition, vol. 2. 426 pp. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Long- mans, London.

Rousseau, Jacques 1948. By canoe across the Ungava Peninsula via the Kogaluk and Payne rivers. Arctic 1(2) :133-5.

Shortt, T. M., and H. S. Peters 1942. Some recent bird records from Canada's eastern Arctic. Can. Jour. Res. 20(D) :338-48.

Shortt, T. M., and Sam Waller 1937. The birds of the Lake St. Martin region, Manitoba. Roy. Ont. Mus. Zool. Contrib. 10:1-51. 210 Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Vol. 25, Art. .3

Soper, J. Dewey 1930. The blue goose; an account of its breeding ground, migration, eggs, nests and general habits. Can. Dept. Interior, Ottawa. 64 pp. 1946. Ornithological results of the Baffin Island expeditions of 1928-1929 and 1930-1931, together with more recent records. Auk 63(1) :l-24.

Stone, Witmer 1937. Bird studies at old Cape May. An of coastal New Jersey. Del. Valley Ornith. Club at Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 520 pp.

Sutton, George M. 1932. The exploration of Southampton Island, Hudson Bay. Part II, Zoology, section 2: The birds of Southampton Island. Carnegie Mus. Mem. 12(2) :3-268.

Taverner, P. A. 1922. Adventures with the Canada goose. Can. Field Nat. 36(5) :81-3. 1931. A study of Branla canadensis (Linnaeus), the Canada goose. Natl. Mus. Can. Bui. 67:28-40.

Taverner, Percy A., and George Miksch Sutton 1934. The birds of Churchill, Manitoba. Carnegie Mus. Ann. 23(1) :l-83. 14 pis.

Tinbergen, N. 1942. An objectivistic study of the innate behavior of animals. Bibliotheca Biotheoretica, Series D, l(2):39-98. 1948. Social releasers and the experimental method required for their study. Wilson Bui. 60(1):6-S1.

Todd, W. E. Clyde 1938. A new eastern race of the Canada goose. Auk 55(4) :661-2. 1940. Birds of western Pennsylvania. University of Pittsburgh Press. 710 pp.

Tufts, R. W. 1932. Annual convention of winter geese. Can. Field Nat. 46(3) :51-3.

Uhler, Francis M. 1933. Effect of baiting and live decoys on the waterfowl of the upper Mississippi River valley. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Unpublished report.)

Wetmore, Alexander, and Committee 1945. Twentieth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of North American birds. Auk 62(3) :43 6^9.

Wilfrid, Rev. Brother 1924. Notes on the Canada goose in captivity. Can. Field Nat. 38(7) :124.

Williams, Cecil S., and E. R. Kalmbach 1943. Migration and fate of transported juvenile waterfowl. Jour. Wildlife Mgt. 7(2):163-9.

Williams, Cecil S., and William H. Marshall 1938. Survival of Canada goose goslings. Bear River refuge, Utah, 1937. Jour. Wildlife Mgt. 2(l):17-9.

Williams, Cecil S., and Marcus C. Nelson 1943. Canada goose nests and eggs. Auk 60(3) :341-5.

Whitlock, S. C, and H. J. Miller 1947. Gunshot wounds in ducks. Jour. Wildlife Mgt. 11 (3) :279-81.

Yeager, Lee E., and William H. Elder 1945. Pre- and post-hunting season foods of raccoons on an Illinois goose refuge. Jour. Wildlife Mgt. 9(l):48-56.

Zimmerman, P. R. 1942. Quarterly progress report: Waterfowl management research. Wis. Wildlife Res. 2(1) :17-31. 1943. Quarterly progress report: Waterfowl management research. Wis. Wildlife Res. 3(1) :15-21.

Recent Publications

A.—ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY BULLETIN. Volume 22, Article 1.—^The Plant Bugs, or Miridae, of Illinois. By Harry H. Knigl September, 1941. 234 pp., frontis. + 181 figs., bibliog., index. $125. Volume 22, Article 2.—Studies of North American Plecoptera, with special reference the . By T. H. Prison. September, 1942. 122 pp., frontis. + 126 fig bibliog., index. $1.00. Volume 22, Article 6.—Survey of the Illinois Fur Resource. By Louis G. Brown ai Lee E. Yeager. September, 1943. 70 pp., frontis. + 33 figs., bibliog. (Bound wi Article 7.) Volume 22, Article 7.—Illinois Furbearer Distribution and Income. By Carl O^ Moh September, 1943. 33 pp., frontis. + 24 figs., bibliog. (Bound with Article 6.) 1.— Volume 23, Article ^The Caddis Flies, or Trichoptera, of Illinois. By Herbert I Ross. August, 1944. 326 pp., frontis. + 961 figs., bibliog., index. $1.50. Volume 23, Article 2.—Duck Populations and Kill. By Frank C. Bellrose, Jr. Novell ber, 1944. 46 pp., frontis. + 27 figs., bibliog. 50 cents. Volume 23, Article 3.—Overfishing in a Small Artificial Lake : Onized Lake near Alto Illinois. By George W. Bennett. May, 1945. 34 pp., frontis. + 15 figs., bibliog. 4.— Volume 23, Article ^Wetwood of Elms. By J. Cedric Carter. August, 1945. 42 p| frontis. + 30 figs., bibliog. Volume 23, Article 5.—Fox Squirrels and Gray Squirrels in Illinois. By Louis ( Brown and Lee E. Yeager. September, 1945. 88 pp., frontis. + 42 figs., bibliog. Volume 24, Article 1.—The Mosquitoes of Illinois (Diptera, Culicidae). By Herbe H. Ross. August, 1947. 96 pp., frontis. + 184 figs., bibliog. 50 cents. Volume 24, Article 2.—^The Leafhoppers, or Cicadellidae, of Illinois (Eurymelinai Balcluthinae). By D. M. DeLong. June, 1948. 280 pp. + 514 figs., bibliog., inde $1.25. — Volume 24, Article 3. ^The Bass- Combination in a Small Artificial Lake. I George W. Bennett. December, 1948. 36 pp., frontis. + 10 figs. Volume 24, Article 4.—^The Pseudoscorpions of Illinois. By C. Clayton Ho£E. Jun 1949. 86 pp., frontis. + 51 figs., bibliog., index. 50 cents. Volume 25, Article 1.—Characteristics of Residual Insecticides Toxic to the House Fl By Willis N. Bruce. July, 1949. 32 pp., frontis. + 14 figs., bibliog. Volume 25, Article 2.—Eflect of Permanent Flooding in a River-Bottom Timber Are By Lee E. Yeager. August, 1949. 32 pp., frontis. +21 figs., bibliog. B.—ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY CIRCULAR. 32.—Pleasure Vi^ith Plants. By L. R. Tehon. February, 1949. (Third printing, vrh revisions.) 32 pp., frontis. + 9 figs. 36.—Planting and Care of Shade Trees. By J. E. Davis. September, 1947. (Thii printing, with additions.) 28 pp., frontis. + 20 figs. 38.—^Windbreaks for Illinois Farmsteads. By J. E. Davis. February, 1949. (Thii printing, with additions by L. B. Culver.) 33 pp., frontis. + 27 figs. 39.—How to Collect and Preserve . By H. H. Ross. July, 1949. 59 pi frontis., + 65 figs. 41.—How to Recognize and Control Termites in Illinois. By B. G. Berger. Februat; 1947. 44 pp., frontis. + 32 figs. 42.—Bird Dogs in Sport and Conservation. By Ralph £. Yeatter. December, 194 64 pp., frontis. + 40 figs. C—ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY MANUAL. 2.—Fieldbook of Illinois Land Snails. By Frank Collins Baker. August, 1939. 166 pj color frontis. + 170 figs., 8 pis. $1.00. 3.—Fieldbook of Native Illinois Shrubs. By Leo R. Tehon. December, 1942. 307 pf 4 color pis. + 72 figs., glossary, index. $1.25.

List of avmlabU publications, about 400 titlts, mailed on request.

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