282 DUCK SHOOTING. 



they collect in surprising numbers in favorite localities, 

 seemingly waiting for favorable weather conditions. If 

 the spring is stormy and cold, with gales from the 

 north, northwest and northeast, the brant remain here, 

 growing more and more numerous ; but should a south- 

 west wind begin to blow, the birds may all disappear 

 in a night. Sometimes they linger in the Great South 

 Bay until the first days of May, but they cannot be de- 

 pended on to remain so late. 



Brant were formerly very unsuspicious, and came 

 with great readiness to the decoys set out about the 

 battery; but of late years, since they have been so per- 

 sistently gunned, they, like other birds and mammals, 

 are learning the lesson of experience, and often do not 

 decoy readily, and sometimes not at all. 



In some places in various Atlantic coast waters, the 

 tides and the currents sweep together masses of grass 

 and seaweed in particular places, which are called sea- 

 weed banks or bunks. These are often piled up so 

 that the surface of the heap is within a few inches of 

 the top of the water. Where such bunks are formed 

 near the feeding grounds of the brant it is often pos- 

 sible to rig out a battery, and to lie there and shoot 

 them in very tempestuous weather; at times, in fact, 

 when a battery could not live in deeper water. At 

 such times the brant are uneasy, flying about and seek- 

 ing shelter, and come to decoys more readily than 

 at other times. The gunner who is fortunate enough 

 to find such a place, and to get rigged out there, is 

 likely to have exceedingly good shooting. 



