THE COMMON BRANT 271 



while a common bird in the Old World is found 

 in North America only on the eastern half. 

 The bird is well known and highly esteemed by 

 the gunner. It comes well to decoys and fur- 

 nishes good sport. Its flesh, too, is of good 

 flavor despite its somewhat rank food of mol- 

 lusks and the like. When possible to do so the 

 Brant chooses a vegetable diet. 



It is marked as follows: head and neck jet 

 black, as is also the forebreast. A small patch 

 of white on each side of the neck. Breast ashy 

 gray, this color sharply contrasted with the 

 black above, and fading below into the white 

 of the belly and crissum. Above, a dusky 

 brown, with paler margins to the feathers, the 

 rump growing darker and the upper tail coverts 

 showing snowy white between this dark area 

 and the black tail feathers. Wing quills also 

 blackish. Iris brown; bill, feet and claws 

 black. Length about twenty-four, extent of 

 wings some forty-eight inches. Weight about 

 four pounds. 



In northern New England the Brant is rarely 

 shot over decoys, our method being that toil- 

 some fashion of pushing a gunning float around 

 the bay in steady pursuit until the birds get 



