184 
ANAS BERNICLA. 
of food, yet, wlien winff-broken, the brant will go oB® 
hundred yards at a strettdi under water ; and is ooV' 
sidered, in such circuinstaiiees, one of the most diffie'd 
birds to kill. About the loth or 20fh of May, 
reappear on their way north ; but seldom stop 1 b‘*V 
unless driven in by tempestuous weather. 
The breeding place of the brant is supposed to 
very far to the north. They are common at Hudsou^ 
Bay, very numerous in n inter on the coasts of Holla" 
and Ireland ; are called in Shetland Hurra geese, tro"* 
their fretpieutiug the sound of that name ; they al**’ 
visit the coast of England. Butfon relates, that in 
severe winters of 1740 and 1765, during the prcvale"*^ 
of a strong north wind, the brant visited the coast 
Picardy, in France, in ])rodigious multitudes, a® 
committed great depredations on the corn, tearing it "P 
by the roots, trampling, and devouring it ; and, n<e 
withstaoding the exertions of the inhabitants, who n " | 
constiintly employed in de,stroying them, they conti"*" 
in great force until a change of Sveather carried the’*' 
off. 
The brant generally weighs about four pounds avoB' 
dupois, and measures two feet in length, and three f"*-’ 
six inchc.s in extent; the bill is about an inch and^ 
half long-, and black ; the nostril large, placed nearly 
its middle ; head, ne(k, and breast, black, the net' 
marked with a spot of n'hite, about two inches belo" 
the eye ; belly, pale ash, edged with ndiitc ; from *" 
thighs backn ards, white ; back and wing-co> crts, dusl'.P 
brownish black, the plumage lightest at the tips ; rui"P 
and middle of the tail-coverts, black ; the rest of t**? 
tail-coverts, pure white, reaching nearly to the tip 
the tail, the whole of which is black, but usuin*y 
concealed by the white coverts j jirimaries and seco"' 
daries, deep black ; legs, also black ; irides, dark l^"^f ^ 
The only material difference observable between t"^ 
plumage of tlie male and female, is, that in the latff. 
the white spot on the neck is less, and more mottk’ 
with dusky. In young birds it is sometimes wanti"?’ 
or occurs on the front, cheeks, and chin j and sometim"* 
