NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 101 



The following measurements, taken from a large series of eggs, show about the 

 average sizes: 3.00x1.90, 2.90x1.90, 2.80x2.00, 2.75x2.00, 2.70x1.92. As the eggs are 

 deposited the female gradually lines the nest with feathers plucked from her breast 

 until they rest in a bed of down. When first laid the eggs are white, but by the time 

 incubation begins all are soiled and dingy. 



173. BBAIfT. Branta hernicla (Linn.) Geog. Dist. — ^Northern portions of the 

 Northern Hemisphere; in North America chiefly on the Atlantic coast, rare in the 

 interior or away from salt water. 



The Brant Goose is almost cosmopolitan in its distribution. It is found on the 

 sea coasts of Europe and eastern North America, breeding only within the Arctic 

 circle. Hagerup records this bird to be common as a migratory species along the 

 southern shores of Greenland, and says it breeds possibly in the northern part of 

 Danish Greenland. While being more maritime than United States geese generally 

 are, it is also found inland occasionally on lakes and rivers. During the migrations 

 it is abundant, and seems to prefer the coast to the Interior, seldom passing over 

 large tracts of land, following the windings of the shore, and nearly always keeping 

 over water. The Brant is a particular favorite with sportsmen, and many are shot 

 from points of land which project out into the sea. Ihe common Brant Goose is said 

 to breed in immense numbers in Spitzbergen and on the islands about the coast. 

 The nest is constructed on the sandy beaches, of grasses, moss, feathers and down, 

 the birds depositing from four to six eggs. In some parts of Greenland where this 

 species is known to breed, some of the birds make their nests on cliffs. ' The eggs are 

 grayish or dirty-white, and average in size 2.70 by 1.80, according to Saunders. 



174. BLACK BB.ANT. Branta nigricans (Lawr.) Geog. Dist. — Arctic and 

 Western North America; rare in the Atlantic States. 



The Black Brant is very closely allied to the common Brant Goose; it is found 

 on the Pacific coast, where the latter does not occur. Its summer home is in high 

 latitudes, and in Alaska, the mouth of the Yukon, Is said probably to form the ex- 

 treme southern limit of this bird's occurrence in the breeding season. At Point 

 Barrow, according to Murdoch, a few remain to breed in June. The nest is placed in 

 rather marshy ground and is a simple depression lined with down, with which the 

 eggs are completely covered when the birds leave the nest. Breeds in abundant 

 on islands northeast of the mouth of Anderson River, in Liverpool Bay on the 

 Arctic coast, on the shores of Franklin Bay, and on various other parts of the coast, 

 especially in regions west of Anderson River. In these regions, according to Dr. 

 Brewer, nests were founa by Mr. MacFarlane on small Islets in fresh water ponds; 

 others on islands in the Anderson near its mouth; many were made on the shore or 

 on islands in Franklin Bay, and in various parts of the Arctic Sea. Some of the 

 nests were nothing but mere depressions lined with down, while in others the 

 quantity of down was quite large. The number of eggs In a nest was generally five; 

 but in one case as many as spven were seen, and, in six or seven instances six. The 

 eggs are grayish-white, and range from 2.75 to 2.90 long by 1.80 to 1.85 broad. 



[175.] BABNACLE GOOSE. Branta leucopsis (Bechst.) Geog. Dist.— North- 

 ern parts of the Old World; casual In Eastern North America. 

 />, The Barnacle Goose inhabits the northern portions of Europe and is occasion- 

 ally found on th,e Atlantic coast of North America. But many of the specimens taken 

 oh this side of the Atlantic are birds that are supposed to have escaped from con- 



