77 



It originally bred within the borders of our present inhabited areas but 

 settlement has driven it from its more southerly breeding range. How- 

 ever, it still occupies large areas throughout northern Canada as far as 

 the northern tree limits and as much of this territory will remain unsettled 

 for many years the goose is assured of safe breeding grounds and is in no 

 immediate danger of extermination. However, unless intelligent conserva- 

 tion principles are adopted in the future the Canada Goose will probably 

 decrease as its breeding grounds are opened up. 



173a. Brant, fr. — la bernache commune. Branla bernicla. L, 26. Much like 

 the Canada Goose but smaller; head, neck, and upper breast black; a narrow broken 

 collar of white on neck. 



Distinctions. A small dark Canada Groose without face mark. 



Field Marks. Small size, dark breast, and lack of face mark. The wliite V over tail, 

 displayed when flying low, will also distinguish the Brant from any of the larger, black 

 ducks but not from the Canada Goose. 



Nesting. On ground, nest of grasses lined with down. 



Distribution. As a species, circumpolar. The American Brant breeds in the eastern 

 Arctic region, migrating do\vn the Atlantic coasts, rarely in the interior. 



SUBSPECIES. The Brant is a circumpolar species. The New World form, the 

 American Brant B. b. glaucogastra , is subspecifically distinct from the Old World bird 

 which has never been recorded in America. The Black Brant B. nigricans of the west is 

 characterized by having the black of the breast suffused over the imderparts; but it occurs 

 in eastern Canada only as an accidental straggler. 



The Brant is a small goose. It occurs on the lower St. Lawrence and 

 the seacoast in flocks of hundreds but is scarce or only a straggler in the 

 interior on the Great Lakes. 



Subfamily — Cygninoe. Swans. 



General Description. Very large white Anatidce; excepting perhaps the Whooping 

 Crane or the Wild Turkey, the largest of American birds. 



Distinctions. Size combined with colour is sufficient to diagnose the two Swans. 

 Lores (space between eye and bill) imfeathered. Bill begins high on the forehead, at base 

 is almost rectangular in cross-section and tip is provided with a flat nail. 



Field Marks. Size and colour: they are our only large, all white, bu'ds.^ 



Nesting. On ground, nest of grasses lined with down plucked from parent bird. 



Distribution. Most of the Swans are found in the northern hemisphere but are not 

 entirely confined to it. In America, they now nest in the far north; though originally 

 the Trumpeter, now verging on extinction, bred as far south as some of the northern 

 United States. 



From time immemorial Swans have figured largely in Old World 

 folk-lore and the fairy tales of childhood are filled with references to them, 

 but it comes with a little shock of surprise to many people to learn that 

 even to-day wild Swans are actually common in Canada. Geese are wild 

 and wary, but the Swan is even wilder and more wary. Its long neck 

 allows it to feed in deeper water than other non-diving species and it keeps 

 well out in deep water through the day, where unobserved approach is 

 impossible. It rarely comes into the shallow marshes that may hide the 

 huntsman and, therefore, it is rarely taken. 



The common names of the Swans of the northern hemisphere are indi- 

 cative of extraordinary vocal powers; thus in America we have the Whistler 

 and the Trumpeter, and in Europe the Whooper and the Mute Swans. 

 Peculiar and complicated modifications of the windpipe, in the form of 



'Other large white birds occurring in Canada all have more or less black on flight feathers. 



57172—61 



