109 
Even though it continues to survive in the uninhabited north and still 
comes down to furnish its quota of sport its disappearance as a resident in 
the settled communities would be a serious aesthetic and economic loss. 
It is a noble bird, a point of interest in any landscape. No one fails to 
thrill at sight of its long V-shaped flocks flying over, or at the sound of its 
wild barbaric music coming down through the twilight. Domestically, the 
Canada Goose is a model for man. Unlike Ducks which mate for the season 
and then part for ever, Geese mate for life, mourn a lost mate, and are not 
easily comforted. Both sexes assist in the responsibilities of family life 
and if necessary share the supreme sacrifice in its behalf. We speak of 
the Goose as the personification of foolishness, but the Canada Goose is 
one of the most intelligent and wiliest of birds and exhibits occasional 
bits of strategy that are astonishing. 
What can be done to make these evidences of sagacity and devotion 
familiar to us all has been shown by Jack Miner, who has induced so sus- 
picious a bird to come close about his house, inspired it with such confidence 
that it becomes as poultry about the back door, yet loses none of its wild 
ways or independence. Even more remarkable, he has overcome one of 
its strongest instincts, that of migration, and has induced it to winter far 
north of its natural wintering ground. If he can do this by means of 
simple protection and a little food, there is surely no reason, except our own 
indifference, for losing this magnificent bird from the prairies. Local 
sentiment can do more to apply practically Jack Miner's spectacular 
methods than can any law that may be passed, or enforced when passed. 
One of the great enemies of the Geese is the automobile. On the 
prairie’s level roads intersecting everywhere, and even with crosscuts 
across country possible, its untiring wheels follow the weary feeding flocks 
from pitch to pitch until, unrefreshed and hopeless of rest, they hurry off 
on their migratory way, refusing to tarry in the neighbourhood where 
they are so mercilessly harried. Nor are the results more satisfactory to 
the pursuers, as very few birds are taken in this way, and the survivors 
are so restless and uneasy that legitimate sport is spoiled for others. Without 
the development of a more sportsman-like spirit in the shooting public, 
it seems difficult or impossible to control this evil without laws more 
drastically curtailing our liberties than it seems possible or expedient to 
enforce. 
173. Brant (Including Black Brant). Branta bemida. L, 26. Plate XIII A. A 
small, greyish-brown Goose, paler below, with a black head, neck, and upper breast inter- 
rupted only by a partly broken, narrow, white collar on the upper neck. 
Distinctions. The black head without white face spots of any kind is characteristic 
of the Brant. Unfortunately, the term “Brant” has been applied throughout the prairie 
provinces to the White-fronted Goose, which is an inexcusable misuse of the name. On 
the Pacific coast and in the interior of British Columbia the term “Brant” is also mis- 
applied to Hutchins’s and Cackling Geese. 
Field Marks. A small, dark, or nearly black Goose with white V over the tail when 
flying, but without white face marks. Only to be expected on salt water. 
Nesting. On the ground of the tundras. 
Distribution. The northern hemisphere. In America, breeding across the Arctic 
ooast and islands and migrating down tne seacoasts. It appears inland or on fresh water 
