BRANT SHOOTING. 297 



which the brant feed; and this is the great feeding 

 grounds for these birds on Cape Cod. So attractive is 

 this locahty that thousands of these Httle geese as- 

 semble here every spring to "feed and batten," prepara- 

 tory to the long journey, via Prince Edward's Island, 

 to their breeding grounds at or near the North Pole. 

 It will be understood that the marine vegetable that 

 proves so savory a morsel to the brant grows in water 

 five or six feet deep at high tide, and, as these birds are 

 not divers, they can only feed at low or nearly low tide. 

 Then, as the flood tide drives them from their feeding 

 grounds, particularly when it is breezy, the birds be- 

 come uneasy and scatter about in little "pods" or flocks, 

 evidently seeking other feeding grounds or more com- 

 fortable quarters, where they can rest till the tide ebbs 

 so they can return to the feast. It is during this period 

 — from about half flood to half ebb tide — that the brant 

 are flitting about over the flats and likely to catch sight 

 of and be lured to the decoys; and it is during th^se 

 four or five hours each day that the shooting is done. 



The time for the brant to arrive from the South in 

 spring varies considerably. A warm, forward spring 

 brings along the brant in considerable numbers by the 

 1st of March; whereas, a backward season will hardly 

 make good shooting before the end of the month, and 

 by the 25th of April so few remain as to offer the 

 sportsman no inducement to pursue them further, 

 though it is quite probable a few straggling flocks may 

 be seen as late as the ist or even the loth of May. Dur- 

 ing this period they are constantly coming and going, 



