158 WILD-FOWL 



as a proof of it he ate two one night for supper, which 

 was doing quite well, even for an arctic appetite. 



THE BRANT 



There are two brant often called brant-geese which 

 resemble the Canada goose, but are much smaller. 



The common brant of the Eastern coasts is some- 

 times met with in the interior, bu^ it prefers the salt 

 water and is common on the brackish bays of the At- 

 lantic Coast. It may be described as a diminutive 

 wild goose, being very similar to that bird. On the 

 Pacific Coast this bird is replaced by a bird similar in 

 size, known as the black brant. 



The common brant were formerly very abundant 

 along the Eastern coast. I have seen many large flocks 

 on the bays of Long Island, but the persistent shoot- 

 ing, especially from batteries and sail-boats, has di- 

 minished their numbers. Sailing after brant was an 

 exciting and profitable sport, some years ago, but 

 many of the States have now forbidden the use of sail- 

 boats and all motor-boats in the pursuit of brant, 

 geese, and ducks. It is to be hoped that New York 

 will have better laws regulating the shooting of wild- 

 fowl, and that these methods of pursuit and spring 

 shooting may be abolished at the same time. 



The brant come to the North Atlantic Coast in Oc- 

 tober, and are seen in large flocks. They do not fly in 

 long lines or in the V-shaped formation, as the com- 

 mon wild-geese do, but in a bunch, or in masses, with- 

 out any orderly arrangement, and without a leader. 



They decoy readily, and respond to an imitation of 



