242 BULLETIN 130, ITNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



taken. The nests vary a good deal in appearance. On low islets they may 

 be found among the eider ducks" nests, and are substantially built of mosses, 

 lichens, and other vegetable matter, with a plentiful lining of light grayish 

 down. AVhen flushed from incubated eggs, both birds show great anxiety, 

 flying round and round with anxious " gaggling." On shingle banks, where 

 little nesting material is available, the nest may be little more than a hollow 

 among the stones, lined with down and perhaps a few bits of seaweed or 

 lichen. While hiding in order to watch the bird back to the nest, it was in- 

 teresting to notice the head and upper neck of the goose silently watching 

 us from behind a bank of shingle, and all the time keeping as much as possible 

 out of sight, so that the contest resolved itself into one of endurance. 



The nests found by Doctor MacMillan's (1918) party in northern 

 Greenland were apparently similar in location and construction. W. 

 Elmer Ekblaw writes to me : 



The brant, whether it comes from Europe or from America, arrives in north- 

 west Greenland about mid-June. It appears in rather large flocks, from about 

 15 to 50 in number, generally sweeping along the coast in low, long files. 

 When they arrive the ice is well broken and open, so that they find no lack of 

 feeding grounds. Either they are mated when they arrive, or they mate soon 

 after, without any distinct mating season, because they proceed at once to the 

 business of nesting and incubation. They gather along the shores of the rocky 

 islets, and usually group their nests somewhat gregariously. Lyttleton Island, 

 McGarys Rock, and Sutherland Island are favorite nesting places. The nests, 

 like those of the eiders, are placed among the tussocks of grass or sedge grow- 

 ing on the low flat ledges of the islets where they nest. The nests are heavily 

 lined with dark down, and the full clutch of eggs seems to vary considerably. 

 Some nests held but 4 eggs, while a few had 11 or 12. The period of incubation 

 is between three and four weeks. 



Col. John E. Thayer (1905) has a nest and four eggs taken by 

 J. S. Warmbath on Ellesmere Land, of which he says : 



The nest was found June 17, 1900, on a ledge of rock, 20 feet from the 

 ground, among elder ducks' and glaucous gulls' nests. Both birds were shot. 

 The female was shot on a slight elevation above the nest and the male in the 

 water near it. 



Eggs.— The brant ordinarily lays from 3 to 5 eggs, though as 

 many as 6 or 8 have been recorded. The 4 eggs in the Thayer (1905) 

 collection, referred to above, are described as " dull creamy white 

 and smaller than eggs of the black brant." Four eggs in the 

 author's collection, taken on Eider Duck Island, northern Green- 

 land, Jime 18, 1917, by W. Elmer Ekblaw, are creamy white in color, 

 clean and smooth, but not glossy, and elliptical ovate in shape. The 

 measurements of 54 eggs, in various collections, average 7 1.7 by 47.1 

 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 81.1 by 

 49.4, 77 by 51.3, 60.4 by 38.8, and 61.8 by 36.5 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation is not definitely known, but it 

 is probably about four weeks. The female alone incubates, but the 

 male stands guard near by and helps defend the nest. Mr. Jourdain 

 says, in his notes : 



