358 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME 



December 16 by which date brant were very numerous there. At that 

 time, Jensen and others told me that the birds had become sufficiently 

 abundant by mid-November to afford fair sport, whereas they usually 

 do not appear in such numbers on this bay until Thanksgiving or later. 



Captain of Game Wardens W. J. Harp, Areata, wrote me on Janu- 

 ary 6, 19.34, stating that brant shooting during the 1933 waterfowl 

 hunting season had been very successful. The birds put in their 

 appearance on Humboldt Bay far earlier in 1933 than in the previous 

 year. Harp stated that small flocks commenced to arrive about Decem- 

 ber 1, 1933, and that the species was sufficiently common after December 

 15 to afford good sport to hunters for the remainder of the season 

 (until December 31). Harp estimated that there were 10,000 brant 

 present on Humboldt Bay during that period. The previous season 

 (1932) brant were so late in reaching Humboldt Bay that few were 

 shot before the season closed on December 31 and the birds had not 

 arrived there in numbers by February 12, 1933 (see California Fish 

 AND Game, Vol. 19, 1933, pp. 258-259). 



At the time of my visit to Morro Bay, February 10, 1934, Game 

 Warden Hecker and A. C. Silva stated that brant became common on 

 its waters exceptionally early in the preceding fall and that good shoot- 

 ing was had from mid-November until the close of the gunning season. 



An unusually late date for brant to tarry in our waters in the 

 spring was provided by S. H. Dado of this Division who noted a flock 

 of 12 or 13 individuals in the ocean off New Years Island, San Mateo 

 County, on May 29, 1934. 



BRANT CENSUS IN OREGON, WASHINGTON AND BRITISH COLUMBIA 



Through the kind offices of Dr. I. N. Gabrielson, Bureau of Biologi- 

 cal Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture, I was successful in inter- 

 esting the Oregon State Game Commission into cooperating with our 

 brant census work to the extent of directing its game wardens stationed 

 along the Oregon coast to count the brant present there February 10-12, 

 1934. Results of these observations were kindly provided by State 

 Game Supervisor F. B. Wire in letter dated February 26, 1934, as 

 follows : 



"We have received copies of officers' reports concerning black or sea brant 

 observed in Lincoln and Tillamook counties as follows : 



John H. Price, State Police, Newport : 



"On February 12th, observed about 100 black or sea brant in this 

 vicinity as follows : Yaquina Bay about SO, Siletz Bay 20. There have been 

 large flocks of sea brant on Yaquina Bay for some time." 



Earl C. Williams, State Police, Tillamook : 



"With reference to letter from JMr. Wire rel. observing number of black 

 brant or sea brant between the dates Feb. 10th and 12th, did not get a chance 

 to personally observe for the two days mentioned, but on inquiry, there seemed 

 to be more in Netarts Bay than anywhere else. I observed some two or three 

 thousand in bay and am told that a large number migrated on north from the 

 bay about two or three days ago." 



My inquiries to the Washington State Department of Game in the 

 fall of 1933 relative to the numbers of black brant frequenting the 

 waters of that State met with hearty and cordial response from Director 



