THE COMMON BRANT 271 
while a common bird in the Old World is found 
in North America only on the eastern half. 
The bird is well known and highly esteemed by 
the gunner. It comes well to decoys and fur- 
nishes good sport. Its flesh, too, is of good 
flavor despite its somewhat rank food of mol- 
lusks and the like. When possible to do so the 
Brant chooses a vegetable diet. 
It is marked as follows: head and neck jet 
black, as is also the forebreast. A small patch 
of white on each side of the neck. Breast ashy 
gray, this color sharply contrasted with the 
black above, and fading below into the white 
of the belly and crissum. Above, a dusky 
brown, with paler margins to the feathers, the 
rump growing darker and the upper tail coverts 
showing snowy white between this dark area 
and the black tail feathers. Wing quills also 
blackish. Iris brown; bill, feet and claws 
black. Length about twenty-four, extent of 
wings some forty-eight inches. Weight about 
four pounds. 
In northern New England the Brant is rarely. 
shot over decoys, our method being that toil- 
some fashion of pushing a gunning float around 
the bay in steady pursuit until the birds get 
