EIKDS. 87 



iiiciibiitiou begins all are soiled aud dingy. The female usually eroucbes low on ber nest uutil an 

 intruder comes witbin a buudred yards or so, wbeu sbe skulks ofl' tbrougb tbe grass or Hies silently 

 away, close to tbe ground, aud only raises a note of alarm wbeu well away from tbe nest. When 

 tbe eggs are about batcbing, or tbe young are out, botb parents frequently become perfectly reck- 

 less in tbe face of danger. 



Tbe young are batcbed from tbe middle of June until tbe middle of July. 



Tbe old birds moult tbeir quill featbers from the 20tb of July until late in August, aud flocks 

 begin forming as soon as tbe birds are ou the wing again. From that time uutil the last of Sep- 

 tember and first of October, wbeu they migrate, they are found scattered over the countiy, feeding 

 ou various berries, which are ripe ou the bill-sides. 



One season, at 10 p. m., ou tbe 29th of September, an immense flock of these birds, with other 

 geese, was heard leaving tbe marshes, although the darkness was intense. Tbe following day four 

 inches of snow fell aud winter set in, thus ati'ording an excellent example of what true weather- 

 seers these birds are. 



From tbe time the young are batcbed until the moult, these and the allied geese may be tolled 

 within gunshot, as they fly from place to place, by the hunter merely lying or kneeling on tbe 

 ground aud swinging his cap aud making an outcry or imitating their note. I have seen this done 

 again aud again by the Eskimo, and have done it often myself. 



The first plumage of this bird is a dull grayish umberbrowu; the bead and neck almost 

 uuiform with the rest of the body and without any trace of the white cheek-patches. As is common 

 to the youugof many water-fowl, the featbers of head, neck, and much of tbe rest of body are bor- 

 dered with a lighter shade than the maiu part of the feathers. 



Branta nigricans (Lawr.). IMack Brant (Esk. Liilc-hliuj-S-iuU). 



Each season, as tbe chilling storms and gloomy weather of middle May begin to give place to 

 a softer temperature aud other proofs of approacbiug summer, the Black Brant first makes its 

 appearance on the east coast of Bering Sea. It is rarely found at tbe Yukon mouth before May 

 15, aud it usually arrives from the IStb to the 22d of this month. The week or ten days following 

 tbe arrival of these birds in spring includes the bulk of tbeir migration, after which none are seen 

 until fiill, unless it may be an occasional pair which stop to nest in the mar.sbes from the Yukon 

 mouth north to Kotzebue Sound. This is a very rare occurrence, however, as my own experience 

 and that of tbe Eskimo goes to prove. 



In autumn there is a striking difference in tbe number taking the coast of Bering Sea as a 

 pathway to tbe south, and in place of the myriads which pass north in spring along this coast, 

 only a few scattered parties and stray birds make their appearance between the 1st and tbe loth 

 of October. Tbe cause for this is not known, but it may be due to the fact that in spring tbe birds 

 are forced to keep along the shore to find food ou the exposed flats, whereas iu fall they can find 

 more or less food in passing across tbe sea from one point to another. The main flight of the 

 other geese has passed, aud many of those which remain to breed have already paired when the 

 height of the Brant flight occurs. 



The weather has become just mild enough to render camping somewhat comfortable by this 

 time, and at Saiut Michaels we counted, each spring, upon a few days' sport with these birds as the 

 cream of the shooting season. The nights duriug the last half of May are scarcely darker at Saint 

 Michaels than early twilight in lower latitudes, and tbe air, frosty and bracing between sunset and 

 sunrise, renders camping at this season doubly attractive. Tbe soft, hazy outlines of the land- 

 scape, aud the solemn sileuce brooding over all, make the night scenes impressive. The early 

 sun pours its rays in long bars of light through the mountain defiles upon tbe marshes and 

 awakens to life the noisy multitude which has congregated about the opening pools and bare 

 spaces. A speedy toilet made through tlie icy rim of a pool, aud a hasty breakfast, quickly disposed 

 of, aud one who wishes the best of the Brant shooting must soon gain his station. A rubber 

 blauket spread ou the wet moss allows a comfortable place to lie upon at full length, until, as the 

 sun begins to make itself felt, the birds take wing from their resting-places about the borders of 

 the countless ponds and slough-holes on the broad stretch of marsh. In flocks of from ten to 



