(Plate XX.) 
THE BRANT. 
Branta rernicla Linnaeus. 
On the southern shore of Long Island several species ol large 
sea-ducks, especially those shot in the spring, are confused under 
the general name of “ Brant." But there is only one true Brant 
Goose, — that shown in the opposite plate. 
This goose has a distribution in the northern hemisphere in 
summer over the most of Arctic Lurope and America ; but so dis¬ 
tant and inaccessible is its home, that almost nothing is known by 
ornithologists of its domestic life, architecture, or eggs, which re¬ 
main hidden from us in the remotest marshes of the Polar coasts 
during all the warm months of the year, 
Each winter, however, these birds return to us, along the coasts 
of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and by way of the great 
Mississippi system of water-courses. Dr. Coues mentions that he 
met with vast numbers on the sand-bars and mud-banks of the 
Upper Missouri in October, and numerous other citations might 
be made to show that the old idea that this goose belongs to the 
coast, alone, is erroneous ; on the contrary it must be credited 
with an extensive range in the interior of the United States. 
The Pacific Coast Brant, however, differs somewhat from the 
eastern bird, and is known as the Black Brant (£. beniida var. 
nigricans). 
Brant Geese occur in flocks by themselves, unmixed with other 
species, and are shy of any attention paid them, so that the gun¬ 
ner must sedulously take advantage of their peculiarities and cau¬ 
tiously conceal himself if he expects to get his reward. By doing 
this skillfully large numbers are shot and taken to the city mar¬ 
kets every winter. 
Its chosen haunt is the shallow water of quiet bays where the 
eel-grass grows thickly. Upon this it feeds almost exclusively, 
varying it only with other aquatic plants, since its diet is alto¬ 
gether vegetable. It never dives for its food, but works hard at 
low tide to pull up large quantities of the weed, and at high water 
may be seen “ floating with the current, feeding sumptuously on 
the fruits of its labor.’’ 
Unless disturbed by the approach of a boat or the near report 
of a gun, this goose is inactive, and seems to require an effort to 
mount upon the wing. In flight it moves sluggishly, and returns 
to the place it left in a short time unless attracted by the sight 
of a distant flock. They do not assume upon the wing the dis¬ 
tinct V shape so characteristic of the Canada Geese, fly in small, 
close flocks, without any apparent leader. For shooting them live 
decoys are used to good advantage. But although the live birds 
may be kept successfully for this purpose on corn, it is not possible 
really to domesticate them. Their wandering habits seem to be 
too strongly bred in their wild bosoms to be relinquished for the 
tamer though less precarious life of the barnyard, In this, as 
in many other respects, they differ widely from the Canada 
Geese. Their restless, unquiet maimers, their avoidance of the 
tussocks of grass m the bays which would afford the gunner 
ready concealment, their love of the sand-bars, their sluggish dis¬ 
position when they arc feeding in any bay or inlet, and their 
flight, are habits all their own. Their voice is also readily distin¬ 
guishable from that of the Canada Goose, so that it may even be 
detected at night, being a far less sonorous, though not altogether 
unmusical sound. 
“With the lovers of waterfowl the Brant is highly esteemed. 
Even the adult birds are tender and juicy, and free from a fishy 
flavor, but at times from the nature of its food, its flesh acquires 
a sedgy taste. 11 is considered superior for the table late in the 
spring. The epicure well knows the merits of the ‘ May Brant.’ ” 
Their influx in the autumn is more or less widespread and 
irregular, but under the influence of anxiety to get to their north¬ 
ern breeding-grounds, the spring migration appears to be con¬ 
ducted in a more rapid and direct manner March and April are 
the months in which they may be found on the New England 
coast passing northward. Cape Cod seems to be their last stop¬ 
ping' place. 
Here, if strong northeasterly gales are blowing, they some¬ 
times accumulate in vast numbers, but as soon as the wind changes 
to the southwest they arc up and away, laying their course along 
the coast, the general curve of which they follow with little devia¬ 
tion, and at a great altitude, until they pass up the Bay of Fundy 
and cut across to Northumberland Strait and the shores of 
Prince Edward’s Island, where they find good feeding grounds. 
Between Cape Cod and that point they are said never to halt in 
their flight, or rarely; and there they stay until they are fully re¬ 
cuperated for their long and tedious flight across the bogs of Lab¬ 
rador, over the blue waves of Hudson’s Bay, beyond the forests 
and plains of Arctic America, to the farthest shores around the 
very Pole itself. Not that all the Brant penetrate thus far, — 
for a few breed as far south as Labrador every year,— but all aim 
to do so, and it is only the weakest that fall behind. 
