66 THE BRANT. 
hundred yards at a stretch under water; and is considered, 
in such circumstances, one of the most difficult birds to kill. 
About the 15th or 20th of May, they reappear on their way 
north ; but seldom stop long, unless driven in by tempestuous 
weather. 
The breeding-place of the brant is supposed to be very far 
to the north. They are commonat Hudson’s Bay, very nume- 
rous in winter on the coasts of Holland and Ireland; are 
called in Shetland, Harra geese, from their frequenting the 
sand of that name; they also visit the coast of England. 
Buffon relates, that in the severe winters of 1740 and 1765, 
during the prevalence of a strong north wind, the brant visited 
the coast of Picardy, in France, in prodigious multitudes, and 
committed great depredations on the corn, tearing it up by 
the roots, trampling, and devouring it ; and, notwithstanding 
the exertions of the inhabitants, who were constantly employed 
in destroying them, they continued in great force until a 
change of weather carried them off. 
The brant generally weighs about four pounds avoirdupois, 
and measures two feet in length, and three feet six inches in 
extent ; the bill is about an inch and a half long, and black ; 
the nostril large, placed nearly in its middle; head, neck, and 
breast, black; the neck marked with a spot of white, about 
two inches below the eye; belly, pale ash, edged with white ; 
from the thighs backwards, white; back and wing-coverts, 
dusky brownish black, the plumage lightest at the tips; rump 
and middle of the tail-coverts, black; the rest of the tail- 
coverts, pure white, reaching nearly to the tip of the tail, the 
whole of which is black, but usually concealed by the white 
coverts; primaries and secondaries, deep black; legs, also 
black ; irides, dark hazel. 
The only material difference observable between the plumage 
of the male and female is, that in the latter the white spot 
on the neck is less, and more mottled with dusky. In young 
birds it is sometimes wanting, or occurs on the front, cheeks, 
and chin ; and sometimes the upper part of the neck only is 

