The hunting grounds of the Pacific Coast have a greater variety of
geese than any other section of America. Here are to be found every
species known to the Eastern states, except the barnacle brant of the
Atlantic. But in return for the absence of this species of sea brant
we have the black sea brant, the white-cheeked goose, the ross goose,
the emperor goose (none of which are found east of the Rocky
Mountains) and the hutchins goose, the lesser snow goose, the
white-fronted goose and the little brown brant, which are only
stragglers east of the Mississippi valley, and only sparingly seen
that far east. Thus it will be seen that within the Pacific Coast
hunting grounds there are four genera and nine species of the goose
family. All of these are found in the northern parts of these hunting
grounds, but only about one-half of them visit the southern parts.
Increased areas of cultivation, the drainage of vast sections of
marshy lands and the absence of laws for their protection have greatly
reduced the once wonderful supply.
Acres of geese sounds fabulous, yet miles of geese is the only
expression which conveys an adequate idea of the wonderful numbers in
which these birds were seen on the Coast half a century ago. The great
majority of the geese of the Coast at that time were of the white
varieties, and it is a veritable fact that in California, and
especially in the Sacramento, San Joaquin and Los Angeles valleys,
these geese congregated during the winter months in such numbers as to
whiten the plains for miles. Many flocks of honkers were mixed with
them, as well as some of the other darker varieties. These darker
species of the family, however, were far more plentiful in the
northern parts of the State than in the southern. That part of the
Sacramento valley known as the Maine Prairies has always been a
favorite feeding place for the Canada goose and its subspecies.
[Illustration: CANADA GOOSE BROWN BRANT
(Branta canadensis) (Branta minima)]