Color—Head and back of neck, white; throat, brownish gray, shading into light gray on the breast and abdomen; back, a little darker; the feathers being gray, tipped with lighter gray, with a sub-terminal band of brownish gray; legs, flesh color.
Nest and Eggs—The nests are usually found on the small islands of the salt marshes, and contain eight to ten eggs of a dull white color.
Measurements—Wing, about 15 1/2 inches; bill, 1 1/2 inches.
| BLACK SEA BRANT (Branta nigricans) |
THE BLACK SEA BRANT
(Branta nigricans)
The black sea brant is another purely Pacific Coast species, found nowhere else except as a straggler. They resemble the barnacle brant of the Atlantic (Branta barnicla) except in the shape of the head and bill. A differing characteristic, however, is that the white speckling on the sides of the neck of the barnacle brant extends all around the front of the neck in the case of the black sea brant. As their name implies, these are purely seabirds, rarely flying over the land even, and only found in such bays as produce the eel grass on which they feed almost exclusively. I only know of the following places within the Pacific Coast shooting grounds where the black sea brant is found. These are: Puget sound, Washington; Coos bay, Oregon; Humboldt, Tomales, Moro and San Diego bays, California, and Magdalena bay, Lower California. In most of these places they ate plentiful during the winter season. Of all birds that fall to the aim of the sportsman, the black sea brant is the most difficult to get within range of. This is only accomplished by great caution and a good deal of strategy, but when they are brought to bag the reward is a full compensation, for of all the waterfowl their flesh is the most delicious. The sea brant is rarely found away from the haunts mentioned, yet the bird from which the accompanying illustration was made was killed from a small flock that had strayed into the lower end of San Francisco bay, near Redwood City, and was mounted by that accomplished sportsman and taxidermist, Chase Littlejohn, of that place.
Color—General color, black; throat, with a white or speckled ring all around the neck, except a small portion of the back; flanks, mottled white and black; under tail feathers, white.
Nest and Eggs—The nest is only a depression on the ground, but nicely lined with down. The eggs, numbering six to eight, are of a dull white.