LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 145 



fiercely at their offending neighbor. That the females were also parties to 

 these courtsliip performances is shown by the fact that they also would simi- 

 larly attack the male, paired to the other female, if he approached too near. 



Nesting. — In spite of the abundance of this species over a wide 

 breeding range very few naturalists have ever found its nest, and 

 remarkably little has ever been published regarding its breeding 

 habits. The reason for this is that the breeding grounds are usually 

 in such inaccessible places in the marshy interior that few explorers 

 have ever visited them; moreover, the nests are probably so widely 

 scattered and so well hidden that few have been found. The follow- 

 ing from Dr. E. W. Xelson (1887) shows how abundantly the surf 

 scoter must breed in northern Alaska and yet he never found a nest. 

 He says : 



On August 23, 1S7S, I visited Stewart Island, about 10 miles to the seaward 

 of St. Michael. As I neared the island in my kyak I found the water literally 

 black with the males of this species, which were united in an enormous flock, 

 forming a continuous band around the outer end of the island for a distance 

 of about 10 miles in length and from one-half to three-fourths of a mile in 

 width. As the boat approached them those nearest began to rise heavily, by 

 aid of wings and feet, from the glassy surface of the gently undulating but 

 calm water. The first to rise communicated the alarm to those beyond, until 

 as far as could be seen the water was covered with flapping wings, and the air 

 filled with a roar like that of a cataract. The rapid vibrations produced in 

 the air by tens of thousands of wings could be plainly felt. In all my northern 

 experience among the waterfowl which fiock there in summer I never saw any 

 approach to the number of large birds gathered here in one flock, nor shall I 

 soon forget the grand effect produced by this enormous body of birds as they 

 took wing and swept out to sea in a great black cloud and settled again a mile 

 or so away. 



MacFarlane (1891) found a number of nests of the surf scoter in 

 the Anderson River region which he said were much like those of the 

 white-winged scoter, " the only difference noted being that generally 

 less hay and feathers was observed in the composition of its nest, 

 while only one contained as many as 8 eggs, the usual number being 

 from 5 to 7." Of the white-winged scoter's nests he said : 



These were always depressions in the ground, lined with down, feathers, and 

 dry grasses, and placed contiguous to ponds or sheets of fresh water, fre- 

 quently amid clumps of small spruce or dwarf willow, and fairly well concealed 

 from view. 



In a letter to Professor Baird, dated July 16, 1864, he writes : 



The surf duck is numerous, but as its nest is usually placed at a considerable 

 distance from open water, and always well concealed underneath the low- 

 spreading branches of a pine or spruce tree, we never get many of its eggs. 

 The female never gets off the nest until very closely approached, and then 

 invariably (so far as I had an opportunity of judging) makes off to the nearest 

 lake, where it will remain for hours, and thus exhaust the patience of the 

 finder, who is, when traveling, at least, obliged to secure the eggs without their 

 parent. 



