October 25 and December 10. The normal 
spring migration extends from February 10-20 
to April 20-30, with the peak between February 
20 and April 10. 
Habitats 
Brant are especially characteristic of the 
shallow expanses of salt water of the coastal 
bays. They ordinarily are most numerous 
along the barrier-beach side of the bays, 
and tend to concentrate wherever sea-lettuce 
is abundant. Along the eastern shore of Chesa- 
peake Bay, the greatest numbers occur in the 
shallow salt waters of Tangier Sound and 
adjoining estuaries, particularly in areas 
where eelgrass and widgeongrass are common, 
Brant occasionally occur in shallow areas of 
brackish waters near the mouth of the Chop- 
tank River and lower part of Eastern Bay. 
Biogeographic Sections 
Seasonal changes in the Upper Chesapeake 
populations during 1958-59 are shown in table 
42. The Coastal section was the only important 
area for this species after the majority of 
the birds arrived. Within the Coastal section, 
most of the birds usually concentrated in the 
Sinepuxent Bay area. 
Food Habits 
The gullet and gizzard food contents of 13 
Brant were examined (table 43). Brant ap- 
parently feed almost entirely on sea-lettuce 
along the coast; eelgrass and widgeongrass 
probably are more important in Chesapeake 
Bay. Before 1931, when eelgrass also was 
abundant along the Atlantic coast, the coastal 
birds fed on it almost exclusively (Cottam, 
Lynch, and Nelson, 1944), 
Local Distribution of Hunting Kill 
Information concerning local distribution of 
hunting kill of Brant within the Upper Chesa- 
peake region was obtained through an analysis 
of the distribution of 42 weighted recoveries 
of birds banded outside of Maryland and 
Virginia. Ten of the recoveries were reported 
in 1956 and 32 in 1957. Forty-two percent were 
from the Coastal section, 41% from the Lower 
Eastern Shore section, 12% from the Choptank 
River section, and 5% from the Eastern Bay 
section. The comparatively high proportion of 
the kill along the eastern shore of Chesapeake 
Bay suggests that the Brant populations may 
have been appreciably larger in this area 
during 1956 or 1957 than they were during 
1958-59. The greatest local kill (26% of the 
total) was in the lower end of Chincoteague 
34 
Bay (Virginia portion), Kill data arranged by 
months showed that 42% of the kill was in 
November, 35% in December, and 23% in 
January. 
SNOW GOOSE 
Chen hyperborea (Pallas) 
Geese of the larger race of this species, 
Chen hyperborea atlantica Kennard, often called the 
Greater Snow Goose, occur regularly along 
the coast during migration, and occasionally 
are fairly numerous. A few small flocks 
usually winter in this area. Along the eastern 
shore of Chesapeake Bay, in the area between 
the Sassafras River and Fishing Bay, there 
are a few scattered Snow Geese, which often 
are associated with Blue Geese. Probably 
these few birds are of the smaller race, 
Chen hyperborea hyperborea (Pallas), often referred 
to as the Lesser Snow Goose. 
The January inventories for 1953-58 show 
that the wintering population ranged from zero 
in 1953 and 1955 to 4,200 in 1956, averaged 
1,400. This average figure is only a very 
small fraction of the continental population 
(747,000) and about 3% of the Atlantic popula- 
tion, 
The fall migration of Snow Geese usually 
is during the period of October 15-25 to 
December 15-25, with the peak between Novem-= 
ber 20 and December 10, The normal spring 
migration extends from February 10-20 to 
March 20-30, with the peak between February 
20 and March 10. 
Habitats 
Marshes of saltmarsh cordgrass, fringing 
the coastal bays or occurring as islands within 
them, are the principal habitat of Snow Geese. 
Biogeographic Sections 
Approximately 99% of the average wintering 
populations during 1955-58 were inthe Coastal 
section. Less than one-half of one percent was 
in the Chester River, Choptank River, and 
Blackwater-Nanticoke sections, The larger 
local concentrations usually are found along 
the barrier-beach side of Chincoteague Bay. 
Food Habits 
Field observations indicate that Snow Geese 
feed to a large extent on the rootstalks of 
saltmarsh cordgrass. 
