THE BLACK BRANT. 



(Branta nigricans.) 



Since earliest spring-time they have sought 



The utmost northern isle and shoal ; 

 Their chosen haunt and breeding-ground, 



In latitudes beneath the Pole. 

 The wild-geese and the brent-geese there 



In swamps impervious build their nest 

 (So northern fishermen declare), 



Where none may reach them to molest. 



— Isaac McLellan, 



Coot Shooting." 



The Black Brant, or the Brant or 

 Brent Goose, as it is frequently called, is 

 not the brant of the Atlantic coast, but a 

 Western bird ranging from Lower Cali- 

 fornia to the Arctic region of North 

 America. On the Atlantic coast it ap- 

 pears only as a casual visitor and it is not 

 found in the interior. It makes its sum- 

 mer home in very high latitudes and on 

 the Pacific coast the southern limit of its 

 nesting range seems to be about the lati- 

 tude of the mouth of the river Yukon. 

 Dr. William H. Dall has said that in the 

 spring it comes in immense flocks to the 

 sea coast of Alaska and he found the 

 crop of one of these birds to be full of 

 small crustaceans, though, as a rule, it 

 partakes only of a vegetable diet, feeding 

 chiefly upon eel-grass. 



During the time of low tide the Brant 

 feeds constantly, tearing up the plants by 

 the roots from the muddy flats. Unlike 

 the sea ducks, it does not dive for its 



food and it is said that it will never dive 

 except when wounded. It passes the 

 night hours floating on deep water in the 

 open sea. It is a noisy bird and quarrel- 

 some with its kind. 



Its note is "hoarse and honking," and 

 when a flock gabbles in company, as they 

 often do when feeding, the sound pro- 

 duced cannot be described better than to 

 call it a perfect din. 



It is said that the nest of the Black 

 Brant is usually situated in a depression 

 in the ground and consists of grasses 

 and moss lined with down. 



Both the Black Brant and its eastern 

 relative (Branta bernicla) are some- 

 times called "barnacle geese." This name 

 is said to have had its origin in a fable 

 which narrates that they were developed 

 out of barnacles attached to wood in the 

 sea. Dr. Coues says that the name Brant 

 means burnt, and that it was given to 

 these birds because of their dark color 

 which' suggests charring. 



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