BRANT SHOOTING. 301 



obtained in the course of shooting by being sHghtly 

 wounded in the wing, when a phalanx is amputated and 

 the bird is added to the gaggle. The little captives will, 

 when placed in a pen with the old ones, commence eat- 

 ing corn, their usual diet while in captivity, and, al- 

 though they probably never before saw a kernel of 

 corn, they thrive well on this simple bill of fare. Pre- 

 sumably, in their normal condition, they never see 

 fresh water, and yet, in bondage, this is their only 

 beverage. Nor do they seem to suffer by the change. 

 Another peculiarity about them in captivity is that 

 they have no sexual intercourse, lay no eggs, exhibit 

 no incubating desire, are cold, dignified and reserved, 

 especially toward other fowl, nor do they ever become 

 fully domesticated. 



All through the earlier history of branting at this 

 place, and up to about 1862, the business was carried 

 on by 'longshoremen, who associated themselves to- 

 gether, for convenience, in unorganized clubs of from 

 three to six persons. In 1863, a club called the Mono- 

 moy Branting Club, consisting of four resident and 

 fourteen non-resident members, was organized. A lit- 

 tle later another club was formed, and still later a 

 third; but neither of these has been as successful as 

 the first, probably from the fact that the most avail- 

 able shooting points were occupied before they entered 

 the field. Of all the immense flats we have previously 

 described, not more than four or five points are worth 

 occupying, and from a single one of these — the "Mud 

 Hole" — about as many brant have been killed as from 



