88 NATUEAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



several hundred birds they come gliding along close to the ground, almost invariably drawn out 

 in single file, flying abreast, and with continuous and gracefully sinuous undulations. These 

 undulations are produced by the birds successively rising or lowering a foot or two, the motion 

 commencing at one end of the flock and passing successively along. 



The wing-strokes of this species are much more rapid than those of the others, and their flight 

 is also more swift, so that it takes a quick eye and sure hand to stop them as they dart over one 

 while he lies upon the ground. Many a charge of shot has the writer sent on a fruitless errand at 

 these birds, until he has gained a lasting memory of their prowess on the wing. During the winter 

 residence of this Brant upon the shore of California it is noted for its pertinacity in following the 

 outline of the coast as it passes from place to place. In the north this habit still clings to them, 

 and although they frequently pass over broad, marshy flats, yet a low ridge, bat a few yards high 

 above the general level, is sufficient to turn their course and send them skimming along its base 

 and around the obstacle rather than over it. For this reason our best shooting was usually found 

 near the end of a ridge crossing their line of flight. 



While upon the ground or in flight they have a low guttural note something like the syllables 

 gr-rrrr. When alarmed this note, repeated often and with more emphasis, was the only cry 

 heard. 



They are very gregarious, at least during the spring migration, at which time my knowledge 

 of them was gathered ; single individuals were rarely seen, and these always hurried to join the 

 first flock they fell in with, while small flocks very commonly united with larger ones. I regret 

 that I had no opportunity to study this interesting bird during the nesting season. Their breed- 

 ing ground, however, lies considerably to the north, for, during the cruise of the Corwin, in the 

 summer of 1831, we first met them in the vicinity of Point Barrow, where the Eskimo brought 

 many of them on board. This was in August and their qnill-feathers had been moulted and they 

 were sorry-looking objects. 



Some old whaling captains assured me that they have frequently seen these birds coming 

 from over the ice to the north of Point Barrow in fall ; and to the hardy navigators of these seas 

 this is strong evidence in support of the theory that bodies of land lie beyond the impenetrable 

 icy barrier which heads off their advance in that direction. Perhaps it was the droppings of this 

 bird which we found on the dreary shores of Wrangel Island, when our party from the Corwin 

 were the first human beings to break in upon its icy solitude. 



Above the Yukon delta the Black Brant is a rare straggler, but it is taken at times up to 

 Nulato. Dall took one there the 29th of May, and informs us that they are also found at Fort 

 Yukon on the headwaters of the river. There, in spring, they are as numerous for a few days, as 

 on the coast. Strangely enough the same author was informed that these geese are not seen at 

 Fort Yukon in fall, and as the same is virtually the case on the coast of Bering Sea at that 

 season, the query arises as to the path taken by the myriads which pass north during a week or 

 two in spring. 



Mr. Dall writes that on his return to the coast of California in the latter part of October 

 enormous flocks of these birds were seen about 100 miles offshore. They were flying south and 

 frequently settled in the water near the ship. The author just quoted notes eggs and young said 

 to be of this species taken on the Western Aleutian Islands, but I am induced to believe that these 

 eggs and young really belong to B. minima, as the latter bird is the only one said to breed upon 

 these islands, if the statements of residents can be relied upon. While at Unalaska on my. way to 

 San Francisco I saw a flock of the B. minima, domesticated, and upon inquiry learned that they 

 camefropa the western end of the chain, where the natives are in the habit of rearing the young 

 and using them for food in winter. Elliott does not include the Brant among the visitants to the 

 Fur Seal Islands, nor did I see it elsewhere in Bering Sea during my cruise the summer of 1881. 

 For some points of interest upon this bird not mentioned here I must refer those interested to 

 an article by the writer in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, where some of their 

 habits are treated more in detail. 



Mr. Bean {loc. cit.) saw flocks of these birds migrating south along the Arctic coast near 

 Cape Lisburne on August 22, and on the 25th of the same month found them very abundant about 

 the brackish lagoons along shore near Icy Cape. 



