120 MICHIGAN JUllD LIFE. 



Distribution. — Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere; in North 

 America chiefly on the Atlantic coast; rare in the interior, or away from 

 salt water. 



This bird is properly a bird of the seashore and its occurrence inland is 

 always to be looked upon as accidental. According to some of the early 

 writers "the Brant" was at one time not an uncommon migrant across 

 the western end of Lake Erie and along the Detroit and St. Clair rivers. 

 jNIajor Boies states that formerly it was no uncommon thing to see several 

 flocks of this species passing up the Detroit River in spring, flying at a 

 considerable height and rarely stopping to feed or rest; even during the 

 spring of 1904 he states that he saw one or two flocks. Steere (1880) says 

 it is a transient; Stockwell says "One shot on Sarnia Bay, two on the St. 

 Clair Flats, and two on Torch Lake, all in Michigan" (Forest & Stream, 

 VIII, 380). 



We are constrained to believe that all the foregoing notes on 

 "brant" refer to the immature and dark colored Snow Geese and Blue- 

 winged Geese, which are generally known as "Brant" or "Black Brant" 

 among sportsmen throughout Michigan. Mr. O. B. Warren's record of the 

 specimen taken in Calhoun county in 1884 (Cook, Birds of Michigan, 1893, 

 2d ed. 47), comes in the same category, for the Albion Museum specimen 

 (personally examined by the writer) proves to be an immature Blue-winged 

 Goose. There are, however, two specimens of genuine Brant in the collec- 

 tion of the Monroe Marsh Club, taken many years ago on the Monroe 

 marshes, but the exact date is not known. The taxidermist (Mr. Sauvage) 

 who assures me that he mounted them, says that they were killed between 

 22 and 25 years ago, that is, between 1877 and 1880. They were examined 

 by the writer in March, 1905, and are typical specimens, one, however, in 

 immature plumage. It is possible, but not probable, that these are the birds 

 recorded by Robt. B. Lawrence (Forest & Stream, Vol. 32, p. 316) as follows: 

 "On November 8, 1888, John Boyse, a local gunner, killed at Monroe, Mich., 

 a pair of Brant which .were sent on to New York to be mounted by John 

 Wallace. The said Brant were examined by Mr. George N. Lawrence 

 and pronounced to be the common eastern species, Branta bernicla." It 

 seems likely that this gives us two authentic records for the state, at least 

 eight years apart, each record relating to two specimens, but all four from 

 the same limited region. Mcllwraith records the Brant for Ontario some- 

 what doubtfully, stating that "it seems partial to the seacoast" and "I 

 liave only seen it once, flying past out of range" (Birds of Ontario, 1894, 

 p. 101). 



This species is similar in many ways to the other members of the genus, 

 and ])uilds a similar nest on the ground, of grass, w^eedstalks, or moss, lined 

 with down. It breeds only within the Arctic Circle, and the eggs, usually 

 four, are white or buffy white and average 2.92 by 2.02 inches. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult: Bill, feet, and claws black; iris brown. Head and neck all round, and a little 

 of fore part of body, glossy-black, well defined against color of breast; on each side of neck 

 a small patch of white streaks; frequently also white touches on eyelids and chin. Breast 

 light ashy-gray, beginning abruptly from the black, fading on belly and crissum into white, 

 shaded along sides of body. Upper parts brownish-gray; feathers of dorsal region with 

 paler gray tips; rump darker; upper tail-coverts white. Tail-feathers, wing-feathers, and 

 primary coverts blackish; inner primaries whitish toward base. Young: Similar; general 

 cast of plumage browner, with more pronoimced white edging on the wing-coverts, and 

 tips of secondaries quite white; less distinction between colors of breast and belly; back of 



