Nelson oh the Black Brant. 137 



koquine River to the Yukon delta, and in descending the various 

 mouths of the Yukon they invariably keep in the centre of the 

 channel and Hv low, generally within four or five yards of the ice 

 which covers the river at the time. I can account for this dislike 

 for flying over slight obstacles only by the supposition that by 

 frequenting the sea coast and salt-marshes the birds have acquired 

 a taste for keeping low even though at the expense of travelling 

 lunger distances. The same habit is shown in many Sea Ducks 

 • which have the custom of coasting low points rather than cross 

 them. 



Though I have made inquiry among the natives and a number 

 of white men who have been as far along the coast as Point 

 Barrow I have been unable to definitely locate the point of their 

 greatest abundance in summer In autumn very few Brant are 

 seen here during their return to the south. Dall records a speci- 

 men killed at Unalaklik the 28th of September, 1S67 — the latest 

 date I have learned of its presence in Norton Sound in autumn. 

 Thev generally pass south in September, between the i^th and 

 the above date. 



The fact of the much greater abundance of Brant here in spring 

 is easily accounted for when we consider that at this season the 

 country is hut just becoming free of snow and. consequently, the 

 migrants must advance slowly and cautiously as the country be- 

 comes habitable for them: in fall, on the contrary, the Brant. 

 like the other waterfowl, remain on their breeding grounds until 

 the sharp frosts in September hid them depart, when they pass 

 down the coast, through Behring's Straits, and then straight 

 across the sea, past the eastern Aleutian Islands into the Pacific 

 Ocean, thus leaving the shores of Norton .Sound out of their road. 

 or only to he visited by a few stragglers. Through Dall* we 

 learn that the Black Brant passes Fort Yukon in spring, though it 

 is not seen there in fall. lie also records it from the vicinity of 

 Xulato in spring, probably as stragglers from either up or down 

 the Yukon. 



En the above-cited paper it is also stated that ••this Goose is 

 always lean, tough, and of disagreeable flavor," and that " it is 

 also very shy," all of which requires confirmation, since my own 

 experience, extending over three years, during each spring of 

 which I have had abundant opportunity to try them in the field 



■ I tall and Bannister, Trans. ( Ihicago Vail. Sri., I, 1869, p. 295. 



