288 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



Bay and Sea Ducks : Sub-family Fuligulinse 



Ducks are divided into three subfamilies : Bay and Sea 

 Ducks, River and Pond Ducks, and Mergansers. In all, 

 twelve or thirteen species belonging to the first division 

 may be found along the coast of New England and New 

 York, but only six or seven are common. Two species, the 

 Ruddy Duck and the Lesser Scaup Duck, are as a rule 

 only migrants, and occur nearly as often on inland waters 

 as at sea ; the other species are all winter visitants, either 

 along the whole coast or on certain portions of it. 



The American Eider, common off the Maine and Mas- 

 sachusetts coasts, is rare off Long Island. The Harlequin 

 is found regularly only on the eastern half of the Maine 

 coast ; the King Eider and Barrow's Golden-eye are rare 

 even on the Maine coast and only stragglers farther south. 

 The Buffle-head is by no means abundant, but the Old- 

 squaw, the "Whistler, and the three Scoters are common all 

 along the coast and in places abundant. The Greater Scaup 

 is locally common in winter. The American Eider also 

 breeds sparingly along the eastern half of the Maine coast, 

 and the Whistler breeds on some of the large lakes of 

 Maine. 



All the species named above dive for their food, and may 

 by this habit be distinguished from the River and Pond 

 Ducks, p. 300, but not from the Mergansers, p. 306, nor 

 from the Grebes or the other Diving Birds, p. 329 et seq. 



It is at first difficult for an observer on shore to distin- 

 guish the different species feeding some distance off in the 

 water, or flying back and forth to their feeding ground. The 

 Red-breasted Merganser and Black Duck of the following 

 sections must also be taken into consideration in a winter visit 

 to the sea-shore, and the presence of the Loons and Grebes 

 adds to the complication. Much may, however, be learned 

 by careful study with a powerful field-glass, or a small tele- 



