184 ANAS BERNICLA. 



of food, yet, when wing-broken, the brant will go one 

 hundred yards at a stretch under water; and i* con- 

 sidered, in such circumstances, one of the most difficult 

 birds to kill. About the 15th or 20th of May, they 

 reappear on their way north ; but seldom stop long, 

 unless driven in by tempestuous weather. 



The breeding place of the brant is supposed to be 

 very far to the north. They are common at Hudson's 

 Bay, very numerous in winter on the coasts of Holland 

 and Ireland ; are called in Shetland Harra geese, from 

 their frequenting the sound of that name ; they also 

 visit the coast of England. Buffon relates, that in the 

 severe winters of 1740 and 1765, during the prevalence 

 of a strong north wind, the brant visited the coast of 

 Picardy, in France, in prodigious multitudes, and 

 committed great depredations on the corn, tearing it up 

 by the roots, trampling, and devouring it ; and, not- 

 withstanding the exertions of the inhabitants, who were 

 constantly employed in destroying them, they continued 

 in great force until a change of weather carried them 

 off. 



The brant generally weighs about four pounds avoir- 

 dupois, and measures two feet in length, and three feet 

 six inches in extent ; the bill is about an inch and a 

 half long, and black ; the nostril large, placed nearly in 

 its middle ; head, neck, and breast, black, the neck 

 marked with a spot of white, about two inches below 

 the eye ; belly, pale ash, edged with white , from the 

 thighs backwards, white ; back and wing-coverts, dusky 

 brownish black, the plumage lightest at the tips j rump 

 and middle of the tail-coverts, black ; the rest of the 

 tail-coverts, pure white, reaching nearly to the tip of 

 the tail, the whole of which is black, but usually 

 concealed by the white coverts ; primaries and secon- 

 daries, deep black ; legs, also black ; irides, dark hazeL 

 The only material difference observable between the 

 plumage of the male and female, is, that in the latter 

 the white spot on the neck is less, and more mottled 

 with dusky. In young birds it is sometimes wanting, 

 or occurs on the front, cheeks, and chin ; and sometimes 



