68 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 61, FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



25. Donald Stevenson, in 1925, said that he had seen them at 

 King Cove "late in April." 



Apparently, the many bays at the western end of Alaska 

 Peninsula are favorite gathering- places for black brant in migra- 

 tion. In 1925, Stevenson and I observed them on Izembek Bay, 

 where they were present on May 20 in small flocks, on the water 

 and flying from point to point. However, some flocks contained 

 as many as 200 birds, and about 5,000 black brant were estimated 

 for the entire bay. The following day, at the east end of the 

 bay, there were only a few groups. 



Stevenson arrived at this bay on June 2 and found the brant 

 to be plentiful. As he passed Applegate Cove, he saw a "swarm" 

 of brant up the bay, rising and settling in a funnel-shaped mass. 

 There were otjier groups of 50 to 75 brant flying up the bay, 

 some of these joining the large flock. The following day he 

 saw more of them, and, in each instance, they seemed inclined 

 to move in a northeasterly direction. 



On June 16, we saw a small flock and a single bird ; next day 

 we saw several small flocks near the outer sand islands. This 

 was their last appearance. 



In 1943, Gabrielson found black brant on the Sanak Islands on 

 April 30, and the next day, at King Cove, he saw 100, or more, 

 heading toward Cold Bay. In 1944, residents at Port Moller 

 reported the first spring flight on April 26. 



A. C. Bent (1925) quotes Chase Littlejohn as saying that the 

 brant move westward along the Alaska Peninsula, 1 or 2 miles 

 offshore, turn into Morzhovoi Bay, and thence go into the Bering 

 Sea. This probably outlines the spring migration fairly ac- 

 curately. 



While we were at Nunivak Island on August 14, 1936, black 

 brant had arrived from the north. Eskimo said that these brant 

 remain on the inland lakes of that island for about 2 months, 

 or until sometime in October, before continuing south. In the 

 meantime, many others have gone farther south, because at Port 

 Moller, on August 29, the residents said that the brant were due 

 at that time and that they would remain there until about 

 November 1, before continuing south. They also return to Izembek 

 Bay during their migration. 



Dall reported that black brant were nesting on some of the 

 western Aleutians, but Nelson was undoubtedly correct when he 

 assumed that these birds must have been small geese of the 

 canadensis group. Friedmann (1937) records the following re- 

 mains from native middens: One skull and 2 sterna from Little 



