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Show , - f s are usually at least 3 to 30 feet away from the nest of any other Ross's Goose. The eggs are creamy white. The Ross's Goose was one of the last of the North American birds to have kept its breeding ground a secret. In the days of market shooting in California great numbers of these choice-fleshed geesr were shot by market-hunters. The size of the flocks used to be enormous, some including as many as several thousand birds. There is little doubt but that the numbers have been drastically reduced and it is hoped that measures may be adopted designed to save the species spec-ies and to restore it to a safe survival sur-vival size. Since the winter range is practically prac-tically confined to California, much of the responsibility for survival depends on Californians. The known breeding range is so small and so inaccessible that it is probable prob-able that the future of the species depends almost wholly on the reception re-ception the bird gets in its winter range. While the species is protected pro-tected by law, there are probably less than 5,000 left at the present time. ROSS'S GOOSE In winter in the valleys of central cen-tral California one may still see good-sized flocks of small, snow-white snow-white geese. The Ross's Goose is about the weight of the Lesser Snow Goose, which in turn is smaller than the Snow Goose. Ross's Geese are often found in flocks of their larger relatives. The Ross's Goose is snof-white except for black primary wing feathers, the four outermost of which tre margined. The bill is red or palevpurple with a black edge and the upper bill is warty or wrinkled near the base, a character not to be found in the Snow Goose. This warty bill gives the bird such common names as "little wavy", "horned wavy" and "scabby-nosed wavy". In flight, the Ross's Gooe is usually more quiet than is the Snow Goose. The Ross's Goose is probably the smallest of our seese. being about the size of a mallard. Ross's Goose is nomed after B. R. Ross who in 1861 sent specimens speci-mens to John Cassin who recognized recog-nized it as a new species. Ross was Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company and had been a correspondent corres-pondent of the Smithsonian Institution. Insti-tution. He sent the speciments from Great Slave Lake. It was not until 1935 that serious ser-ious efforts were made to discover the nesting ground of this goose and not until the last day of June 1940 when the actual ' breeding ground was discovered. The first breeding birds were discovered on a lake which is a tributary of the Perry River about 50 miles north of the Artie Circle. The nest of the Ross's' Goose is built on the ground and has an over-all diameter of about 1 foot. The eggs are laid in a cavity p.bout 2 inches deep and 5 inches across completely surrounded with a, downy rim. The normal number of eggs is 4 but the number may vary from 2 to 6. The eggs are approximately ap-proximately 2 inches long and nearly 2 inches thick. Probably the members of the species all nest in a relatively small area but the individual nests |