LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 15 



spicuous and much easier to study than ducks that breed in the sloughs 

 and hide their young in the thick vegetation. Generally by the 15th of 

 April each little lake has its flock of courting goldeneyes, often 30 or 40 

 on a sheet of water of 50 acres extent or less. In these flocks adults and 

 immatures are present in about equal numbers. The young of either sex do 

 not breed until the second year, and do not assume their breeding dress 

 until the second fall after they are hatched ; that is, when they are over a year 

 old. 



The courtship display is witnessed in the flocks just prior to their splitting 

 up into pairs. It is attended by much solemn bowing on the part of the 

 drake, with a frequent backward kick, sufficiently strong to send a jet of 

 water several feet into the air. His violet head is puffed out to the greatest 

 possible extent, and altogether he is a handsome bird as, in a frenzy of 

 sexual excitement, he swims up to the soberly attired duck. Sometimes the 

 entire flock will commence to feed as if at a given signal, and again all 

 the birds will simultaneously take wing and circle about the lake several 

 times before once more splashing down to resume their courtship. 



He also contributes the following note : 



Two mated pairs in a small lake in the hills were under observation for two 

 hours. The males acted as if extremely jealous of each other and on several 

 occasions left their mates and engaged in spirited encounters. They rushed 

 together over the surface with much splashing, and when about to meet rose 

 upright and buffeted each other with their wings. A female, whose mate had 

 been killed on an adjacent pond, flew into this lake and immediately one of 

 the mated drakes left his mate and dropped in beside her, when he began 

 bowing, but the strange female did not respond. The male then dove several 

 times trying to rise beneath her, at which she flew some distance away and 

 the drake then rejoined his mate. 



M. P. Skinner contributes the following: 



Early in the winter the ducks outnumber the drakes ; but as spring ap- 

 proaches the proportion becomes more equalized. By February 1 the ten- 

 dency of the flocks to pair off becomes noticeable; courting begins about the 

 same time and lasts until June in some cases. Almost all the flocks are 

 broken up by April 1. While the drakes do most of the " chasing " and 

 " dancing," the females sometimes go through similar movements. The drake 

 swims across the water with jerky motions, not necessarily toward the duck, 

 occasionally an extra kick raises the breast above the surface and at the 

 same time the bill is pointed up and opened and shut twice. Then the neck 

 is stretched backward until the head rests on the lower back, then forward 

 to the normal position, ending with a kick backwards that throws up a 

 little spurt of water. The duck is frequently chased by the drake, with his 

 head and neck stretched out horizontally in front and almost on the water 

 surface. 



Nesting. — Dr. T. M. Brewer (1879) published an interesting paper 

 on this species which added greatly to our knowledge of it at that 

 time. Edwin Carter, " who was probably the first to actually se- 

 cure the nest and eggs of this species within the limits of the United 

 States," sent to Doctor Brewer considerable information about the 

 breeding habits of the Barrow goldeneye in Colorado. He says: 



They nest in hollow trees, and it is surprising to see to what small cavi- 

 ties, in some instances, they can accommodate themselves. The present season 



