Emperor Goose

Nelson says that this is the least known and the most beautiful of all the Wild Geese which make their home in the Far North. It winters mainly in Alaska and Aleutian Islands — where the Aleuts call it the "Beach Goose." When flying they are easily distinguished from other Geese because of their shorter necks and heavier bodies. Their quick wing-beats are like those of the Black Brant and, too, they fly near the ground, rarely more than thirty yards high, often so close to the ground that their wing-tips almost touch it on the down stroke. At short intervals while flying they give a strident call like kla-ha kla-ha kla-ha. They are less noisy than the Whitefront or Cackling Goose.

"Almost at once after their arrival on the islands the EMPEROR GEESE appeared to be mated, the males walking around the females, swinging their heads and uttering low love notes; and incoming flocks quickly disintegrated into pairs which moved about together, though often congregating with many others on flats or sandbars. The male was extremely jealous and pugnacious, however, and immediately resented the slightest approach of another toward his choice; and this spirit was shown equally when an individual of another species chanced to come near.

"When a pair was feeding the male moved restlessly about, constantly on the alert, and at the first alarm the pair drew near one another, and just before taking wing uttered a deep ringing u-lugh u-lugh; these, like the flight notes, having a peculiar deep tone impossible to describe. At low tide, as soon as the shore ice disappeared, the broad mud-flats along shore were thronged with them in pairs and in groups. They were industriously dabbling in the mud for food until satisfied, and then congregated on bars where they sat dozing in the sun or lazily arranging their feathers.

"Early in June they began depositing eggs on the flat marshy islands bordering the sea. The nests were most numerous a short distance back from the muddy feeding grounds but stray pairs were found nesting here and there farther inland. One must have lain with neck outstretched on the ground, as I afterward found was their custom when approached, for the Eskimo and I passed within a few feet on each side of her; but in scanning the ground for nesting birds, the general similarity in tint of the bird and the obvious stick of driftwood beside her had completely misled our sweeping glances."