454 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



'Old Squaws' or 'Old Wives/ is an Arctic inhabitant of both 

 continents, and abounds in the glacial seas of America, 

 where it is seen commonly associated with the Eider, Surf, 

 Black and other Ducks of congenial habits, who invariably 

 prefer the frail but, to them, productive dominion of the sea 

 to the land or its more peaceful waters. So strong is the 

 predilection of this species for its frigid natal climes and 

 their icy barriers, that it is seen to linger in the north as long 

 as the existence of £iny open w^ater can be ascertained ; 

 when the critical moment of departure, at length approach- 

 es, common wants and general feeling begin so far to pre- 

 vail as to unite the scattered families into numerous flocks. 

 They now proceed towards the south, and making a halt on 

 the shores and inland lakes round Hudson's Bay, remain 

 until again reluctantly driven towards milder climes 

 They are the last birds of passage that take leave of the 

 fur countries. Familiar with cold, and only driven to mi- 

 grate for food, in the latter end of August, when already a 

 thin crust of i,ce is seen forming in the night over the still 

 surface of the Arctic Sea, the female Harelda is observed 

 ingeniously breaking a way with her wings for the egress of 

 her young brood. 



According to the state of the weather we consequently 

 observe the variable arrival of these birds. In October they 

 generally pay us a visit, the old already clad in the more 

 dazzling garb of winter. The young sometimes seek out 

 the shelter of the fresh-water ponds, but the old keep out at 

 sea. No place in the Union so abounds with these gabblers 

 as the Bay of Chesapeake. They are lively, restless and 

 gregarious in all their movements, and fly, dive and swim 

 with unrivalled dexterity ; and subsist chiefly upon small 

 shell-fish, and marine plants, particularly the Zoster a or 

 Grass- Wrack. Late in the evening, or early in the morning, 

 towards spring more particularly, vast flocks are seen in the 



