Descbiptive List 91 



are flying singly or in small companies, they readily draw to decoys. It is then that 

 the gunners get in their most telling work, bags of seventy-five or a hundred birds 

 being sometimes taken in a day. Near Cape Hatteras I once lay in a battery near 

 a local gunner, who shot fifty Brant between the hours of 10 a. m. and 2 p. m., and 

 the size of his kill in four hours occasioned no particular comment in the neighbor- 

 hood. 



"Brant retire to the far North upon the approach of spring, furnishing nmch 

 shooting for the gunners en route. They gather in great numbers to breed on the 

 cliffs and shores of Hudson Bay and the little known islands of the Arctic Sea." — 

 Pearson. 



72. Branta leucopsis {Bechst.). Barnacle Goose. 



Description. — Brownisli, head mainly white, the occiput, lores, neck, and chest black. L., 

 24.00-28.00; W., 15.00-17.00. 



Range. — Northern Europe, occasional on the Atlantic coast of North America. 

 Range in North Carolina. — Has been taken twice on Currituck Sound. 



This handsome goose, about the size of the Brant, is of rare occurrence in 

 America, where in fact it appears to come only as a wanderer from the eastern 

 hemisphere. Few specimens have been reported from the United States. Two of 

 these were killed in Currituck Sound, one on October 31, 1870 (Cooke, Distribution 

 and Migration of North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans). The other was taken 

 by William S. Post of New York, on November 22, 1892. (Reported in a letter.) 



Genus Dendrocygna (Swains.) 



73. Dendrocygna bicolor {ViciU.}. Fulvous Tree Duck. 



Description. — Pale yellowish brown, darker on head and streaked with lighter on flanks, 

 black line on nape and down back of neck; rump and tail black, lower and upjier tail-coverts 

 white; lesser wing-coverts brown, rest of wing black. L., 20.00; W., 9. .50; T., 3.25. (Chap., 

 Birds of E.N. A.) 



Range. — Southwestern United States and southward tlu'ough Central and South Ameri<?a; 

 casual in Louisiana in summer. 



Range in North Carolina. — Accidental on Currituck Sound. 



A Fulvous Tree Duck was taken near Swan Island Club in Currituck Sound 

 during July, 1886, and forwarded by W. Sohicr to the National Museum, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. This odd, long-legged, goose-like bird is said to be found only on 

 bodies of fresh or brackish waters, and at times will visit cornfields in quest of 

 grain. Grinnell, in American Duck Shooting, says it "is exceedingly unsuspicious 

 and readily permits approach, so that many of them are killed. When crippled, 

 however, their strong legs enable them to run very fast, and, like all clucks, they 

 are expert hiders, getting into the grass and lying there without moving." 



Genus Olor (Wagl.) 



74. Olor columbianus (0;-rf.) Whistling Swan. 



Ads. — ^White; bill and feet black; a small yellow spot on the lores; tail usually with but 20 

 feathers. ]m. — Head and neck brownish and rest of plumage more or less washed with gray- 

 ish; bill and feet light. L., 55.00; W., 22.00; Tar., 4.0C; Eye to N., 2.40; N. to tip of B., 2.2.5. 



