﻿80 
  NORTH 
  AMERICAN 
  DUCKS, 
  GEESE, 
  AND 
  SWANS. 
  

  

  are 
  unsatisfactoiy, 
  though 
  the 
  species 
  will 
  probably 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  breed 
  

   rarely 
  on 
  North 
  Somerset 
  Island. 
  

  

  Whiter 
  range. 
  — 
  It 
  is 
  common 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  along 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  

   coast 
  from 
  Florida 
  to 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  less 
  common 
  on 
  Long 
  Island, 
  and 
  

   rare 
  during 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  Rhode 
  Island 
  and 
  Massachusetts. 
  A 
  strag- 
  

   gler 
  was 
  secured 
  on 
  Barbados, 
  November 
  15, 
  1876. 
  

  

  Records 
  for 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  are 
  not 
  numerous. 
  Speci- 
  

   mens 
  are 
  recorded 
  from 
  the 
  Whitewater 
  Valley, 
  Indiana; 
  Ottawa, 
  

   Ontario, 
  fall 
  of 
  1887; 
  Racine, 
  Wis. 
  ; 
  Omaha, 
  Nebr., 
  November 
  9, 
  1895; 
  

   Lake 
  Manitoba, 
  spring 
  of 
  1889; 
  Fort 
  Lyon, 
  Colo., 
  April 
  11, 
  1883; 
  

   Comox, 
  British 
  Columbia, 
  January 
  10, 
  1901. 
  

  

  Spring 
  migration. 
  — 
  Since 
  no 
  brant 
  in 
  spring 
  pass 
  north 
  along 
  the 
  

   west 
  coast 
  of 
  Hudson 
  Bay, 
  all 
  the 
  individuals 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  must 
  

   perform 
  their 
  spring 
  migration 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast. 
  They 
  return 
  

   in 
  February 
  to 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound, 
  where 
  they 
  stay 
  in 
  mild 
  winters, 
  

   and 
  appear 
  on 
  the 
  southeastern 
  coast 
  of 
  Massachusetts 
  on 
  the 
  average 
  

   February 
  23. 
  They 
  are 
  common 
  in 
  these 
  waters 
  for 
  six 
  weeks. 
  By 
  

   the 
  end 
  of 
  March 
  the 
  van 
  has 
  already 
  reached 
  northern 
  Nova 
  Scotia. 
  

   They 
  spend 
  the 
  next 
  month 
  around 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  St. 
  Lawrence, 
  and 
  

   then 
  move 
  slowly 
  northward. 
  All 
  observers 
  agree 
  that 
  the 
  brant 
  do 
  

   not 
  go 
  around 
  the 
  east 
  shore 
  of 
  Newfoundland, 
  but 
  steer 
  more 
  directly 
  

   north 
  across 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Peninsula. 
  The 
  average 
  date 
  on 
  which 
  

   they 
  reach 
  latitude 
  16° 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  is 
  March 
  23, 
  and 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  until 
  May 
  30 
  that 
  earty 
  arrivals 
  have 
  been 
  recorded 
  in 
  lati- 
  

   tude 
  79°, 
  snowing 
  an 
  average 
  speed 
  of 
  31 
  miles 
  per 
  day. 
  The 
  average 
  

   date 
  of 
  arrival 
  in 
  latitude 
  82° 
  is 
  June 
  7, 
  or 
  an 
  average 
  speed 
  from 
  

   latitude 
  11° 
  to 
  latitude 
  82° 
  of 
  28 
  miles 
  per 
  day. 
  The 
  most 
  northern 
  

   record 
  of 
  the 
  brant 
  is 
  latitude 
  82° 
  33' 
  on 
  the 
  north 
  coast 
  of 
  Grinnell 
  

   Land. 
  Here 
  it 
  arrived 
  June 
  9, 
  1876, 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  eggs 
  were 
  found 
  

   June 
  21. 
  A 
  hundred 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  south, 
  at 
  Ross 
  Inlet, 
  eggs 
  were 
  taken 
  

   June 
  16, 
  and 
  at 
  Cape 
  Sabine, 
  latitude 
  78° 
  10', 
  June 
  17, 
  1900. 
  

  

  The 
  last 
  disappear 
  from 
  North 
  Carolina 
  waters 
  the 
  first 
  week 
  in 
  

   April; 
  most 
  leave 
  Cape 
  Cod, 
  Massachusetts, 
  by 
  April 
  21, 
  and 
  the 
  

   remainder 
  about 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  May, 
  though 
  at 
  various 
  times 
  birds 
  have 
  

   been 
  seen 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  this 
  month. 
  The 
  south 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  

   St. 
  Lawrence 
  is 
  deserted 
  usually 
  June 
  9-12, 
  just 
  as 
  the 
  earliest 
  brant 
  

   are 
  arriving 
  on 
  their 
  breeding 
  grounds. 
  

  

  Fall 
  migration. 
  — 
  Southward-moving 
  flocks 
  of 
  brant 
  were 
  seen 
  

   August 
  20, 
  1876, 
  at 
  Cape 
  Lieber, 
  latitude 
  81° 
  30', 
  ten 
  weeks 
  after 
  the 
  

   first 
  had 
  passed 
  north. 
  In 
  less 
  than 
  three 
  weeks 
  the 
  last 
  had 
  disap- 
  

   peared, 
  i. 
  e. 
  , 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  over 
  three 
  months 
  on 
  the 
  breeding 
  grounds. 
  

   The 
  black 
  brant 
  breeding 
  at 
  Point 
  Barrow, 
  Alaska, 
  were 
  present 
  from 
  

   June 
  5 
  to 
  September 
  20, 
  1898, 
  fifteen 
  weeks, 
  and 
  this 
  latter 
  period 
  is 
  

   about 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  interval 
  spent 
  at 
  their 
  breeding 
  grounds 
  by 
  those 
  

   small 
  land 
  birds 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  States 
  that 
  migrate 
  earliest 
  in 
  the 
  fall. 
  

  

  