LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 117 



for an hour before sunrise we could see small flocks of scoters, darkly 

 painted on the lightening slcy, flying from their bedding grounds 

 at sea up into Jericho Bay to feed on the mussel beds in shallow 

 water With the coming of the dawn the gulls became active, and 

 and their shadowy forms could be made out against the rosy clouds. 

 The black figure of an occasional cormorant was seen flying high 

 in the air, and scurrying flocks of oldsquaws flew past us at safe 

 distances. We soon realized, as we began to reach the outer islands, 

 that it was none too smooth ; a heavy ocean swell was rolling in and 

 breaking on the ledges ; and the west wind, coming up with the sun, 

 Avas stirring up a troublesome cross chop. As we approached Spirit 

 Ledge, where we intended to do our shooting, all hope of landing 

 was dispelled, for the waves were breaking over it with clouds of 

 spray and all around it the submerged ledges were white with comb- 

 ing breakers. It was no place for us, this wild scene of ocean fury, 

 but for the birds it held no terrors. There, just beyond our reach 

 were hundreds of American eiders, surf and white-winged scoters, 

 flocks of oldsquaws, and a few of the black-backed king eiders; 

 flocks were going and coming, settling in the water among the 

 breakers or circling about the rocks. It was a wild and attractive 

 scene, but we could only view it from a distance, and we were finally 

 obliged to retire to a more sheltered ledge where we succeeded in 

 landing and setting out our decoys in the lee. Here only occasional 

 flocks, pairs, or single birds came in to us, as we lay concealed among 

 the rocks while our boatman was anchored at a distance. Off around 

 the outer ledges we could still see the flocks of eiders feeding in the 

 surf, riding at ease among the angry waves, paddling backwards or 

 forwards to avoid the breaking crests, or diving under a combing 

 breaker. There were both old and young birds in the flocks, but the 

 latter decidedly in the majority ; the old birds were too shy to come 

 to us, but we secured young males ^jn various stages of plumage. 

 Before long it became too rough to stay even here, and our boatman 

 insisted on our leaving before it was too late; as it was we lost one 

 oar and nearly lost our skiff'; we were glad to leave the sea ducks 

 alone in their glory. 



On the southern coasts of New England and Long Island the 

 king eider is an irregular winter visitor, and during some seasons it 

 is quite common. I have a small series of immature males and 

 females taken in midwinter about Hen and Chickens Keef , partially 

 submerged ledges a few miles off the coast of Westport, Massachu- 

 setts; here these birds are known as "cousins," owing to their re- 

 semblance to the common eiders, which are known as " wamps." On 

 Long Island they are known as " Isle of Shoal ducks " ; William 

 Dutcher (1888) received, in January, 1887, a female king eider from 



