BRANT (Branta hernicla glaucogastra). 

 The common Brant is found in eastern North 

 America and Greenland, breeding on Arctic 

 Islands and wintering on the Atlantic coast 

 southward from Massachusetts. They 

 make their appearance on the coast of the 

 United States in October, the various flocks 

 congregating in favorite places in immense 

 numbers. They fly with no apparent leader 

 and in a compact flock. They are very 

 noisy, their notes being loud, rolling and gut- 

 tural, quite unlike the honking of geese. 

 They are not nearly as shy and wary as Can- 

 ada Geese, it often being possible to approach 

 a flock on the water or on a sand bar near 

 enough for a shot. They come to decoys 

 with the greatest confidence and, conse- 

 quently, are killed in such great numbers 

 that they are yearly becoming less abundant. 

 Their food consists almost wholly of 

 grasses and roots which are pulled up in shal- 

 low water where they can easily reach bot- 

 tom. They do not dive at all, in fact even a 

 wounded Brant cannot dive, but tries to es- 

 cape by swimming as rapidly as possible to 

 windward. 



Brant are about equally often called 

 "Brent Goose" or sometimes "Black 

 Brant" to distinguish them from the Snow 

 Geese, which arfe in the same places called 

 "White Brant." This latter cognomen, 

 however, is quite incorrect ; it is reserved particularly for the next species. 



BLACK BRANT {Branta nigricans). This species is of the same size as 

 the last, namely 24 in. in length. They are, however, darker above, and the 

 black on the breast extends over the under paris to the belly and crissum. 

 The white neck patches are also larger and usually meet in front. Black 

 Brant are birds of the Pacific coast, there wholly replacing the species that is 

 found in the east. They are rarely found inland, but keep off the coast and in 

 bays in large flocks. Their flight is rather heavy and not very fast, per- 

 formed in a widely strung out line at right angles to their line of progression. 

 Both species of Brant usually fly rather low, following the coast line and 

 rarely cutting across even short stretches of land. 



BRANT 

 BLACK BRANT 



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