and the Maritime Provinces. 149 



" The brant, Bernicla brenta, is much sought after by gunners all along 

 our coast, and certain localities, which the birds seem to prefer, are always 

 occupied in the proper season by ardent sportsmen. Most of the shooting 

 is done from ' batteries,' or boxes, sunk in the sand, large and deep enough 

 for the accommodation of one or more gunners. Sometimes there is 

 nothing but a hole or pit in the sand, which is covered by canvas, and 

 around this the decoys are anchored. The brant readily come to these 

 decoys, and sometimes large bags are made in a day's shooting. 



" The brant never dives for food, but when wounded will attempt to 

 escape by diving. It is a great wanderer and seldom remains many days 

 in one locality. Although south of New England it is killed in the autumn 

 migration, it now seems to avoid us at that time and visits us only in the 

 spring." 



" The Canada, or wild goose, is the great prize to the gunners," said 

 the Doctor ; " a few of them make a bag worth carrying." 



" Yes," said I, " and one worth striving for. Many a time have I laid 

 out in my pit in the beach waiting for a flock to come, and what a ' thud ' 

 there is when an old gander drops to the gun. Though usually a bird of 

 passage in New England, it makes a long stay in the St. Lawrence and in 

 the Bay Chaleur, where it feeds on the roots of the sea-grass that the 

 brant so well loves. I venture to say that I have seen five thousand in a 



jump sidewise, with a look which would seem to say, ' You are a little off 

 size and color, where did you come from ' ? Again, I have seen them swim 

 up to a decoy and peck at it, and when their bill struck the wood there would 

 be another expression too ludicrous for anything. Then I should like to 

 have been a good bird mind-reader. 



" During the spring flight, if a male and female come to the decoys and 

 you kill the male and the female goes clear, she will always return for the 

 male, though the male will rarely ever return for the female. The gunners, 

 knowing this, if they have to take chances on a pair of birds, always shoot 

 the male first, for they know the female will return and they will be quite 

 sure to get her. Another peculiarity common to both the white-wing and 

 surf duck is this : if they pass between your boat and the land too far 

 away to shoot, screech at them and they will always turn off from the land 

 towards you. When they are too shy to come to decoys the gunners take 

 advantage of them in this way. While all three species are the same in 

 their other habits, I have never known of the American scoter being taken 

 in this way, although I have tried it many times, for they go on their way as 

 if nothing had happened. 



" There may be miles of water with many shoals and nothing to mark 

 the position of their accustomed feeding beds, and though the birds have 

 drifted all night with the current, yet, however dense the fog, they will 

 always fly direct to the particular shoal on which they have been in the 

 habit of feeding, notwithstanding the fact that there are plenty of other 

 shoals in the vicinity ; for each particular flock of ducks, if it contains 



