194 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



ces in size and plumage between the males and females of this 

 species are very slight. The young birds are a shade paler brown 

 than the old ones, and have the wing coverts more deeply mar- 

 gined with white. Brant are exclusive and reserved in their habits, 

 never consorting vrith other fowl. They hiss at one approaching 

 as other geese do, and their " ruck, ruck," and "r-r-ronk, r-ronk," 

 when trilled off by an expert, is not altogether unmusical. The 

 domestic life of the Brant, the order of the family, the food of the 

 young, their gTO\vth and development, are entirely unknown. No 

 one has at any time, we presume, studied their habits from birth 

 to maturity, and consequently that great field for studying charac- 

 ter — the home — is lost to us. 



Although at many points on our coast live birds of this species 

 are kept as decoys, we believe that in no case have they shown 

 any disposition to breed when confined, in this respect differing 

 widely from the Canada Goose. While in bondage, they drink 

 fresh water, but in a normal condition, if they drink at all, it is of 

 salt water. Their food is almost wholly vegetable, consisting of 

 eel grass and other marine growths. They are said to feed also 

 on the " sand worm," but it is doubtful if they ever partake of fish. 

 Their excrementary deposits, too, indicate a diet almost entirely 

 vegetable, and as they never dive except when wounded and. pur- 

 sued, they must feed where the water is less than two feet deep. 

 3om alone constitutes the bill of fare of the decoys. At Cape 

 Cod, in ordinary seasons. Brant begin to arrive and depart early in 

 March, and they continue coming and going till the end of April. 

 At times there are immense numbers on the feeding ground. 

 They are too wise to set out upon a long voyage in the teeth of a 

 northeasterly storm, but let the wind haul to southwest, and one 

 will see those nearest shore gobble a quantity of sand — " take in 

 ballast,'' as the natives say — lift up and swing round, often two or 

 three times to get the proper altitude, then strike out over the 

 beach in an E. N. E. direction, and with such precision as to pro- 

 voke the remark that each leader must carry a compass in the top 

 of his head to steer by. There is no day dunng the season above 

 named, when there are not more or less Brant at this point, and 

 with proper appliances and skillful management, large numbers of 

 them may be s'lughiered, but no sport is more dubious than this 



