202 GAME-BIRDS AT HOME, 



from the sea alone that these birds come. Too 

 late the discovery, for quick as the shying of the 

 swiftest duck is the wheeling of this active little 

 goose. Wa — ook^ iva — ook^ wa — ook resounds 

 from amid the wiff^ "^iff-, iviff of sheering pinions, 

 and before the guns can be turned upon them 

 the brant are out of reach. Vainly the fire 

 streams toward them ; not a twitch in the black 

 ranks; not a dusky feather parts its hold. 



And now the armies of brant are gathering in 

 earnest, for the tide is half out and the time for 

 the grand march come. Thus far we have seen 

 only the skirmish-line. But now they are com- 

 ing in battalions. Some are in long lines, point 

 foremost, some in wedge-shaped masses, others 

 in crescent lines, others in converging strings. 

 Vainly you seek the motive for this activity. 

 The brant are not feeding, nor on the way to 

 feed. This particular stage of the tide seems no 

 better adapted to wing exercise than any other 

 stage, and yet nearly every brant in the land is 

 in motion. Still, they relax no caution, and 

 unless all is quiet in the blind it is vain to expect 

 a close shot. And the majority of the flocks 

 aim for the decoys, and if not disturbed will 



