HARLEQUIN DUCK. 353 



and almost accidental visitor as far as the Middle States of the 

 Union. It is, however, more frequent in Eastern Europe up to 

 Greenland, and common from Lake Baikal to Kamtschatka. 

 Now and then it is killed in Scotland and the Orkneys. Dr. 

 Richardson found it to be a rare bird in the fur countries, 

 haunting eddies under cascades and rapid streams, where it 

 dwells and breeds apart from all other Ducks. In Kam- 

 tschatka it affects the same retired and remarkable romantic 

 situations. Like the Alpine Cinclus, it prefers the most rocky 

 and agitated torrents ; in such situations it has been seen in the 

 rivulets of Hudson Bay at as great a distance as ninety miles 

 inland from the sea. Here it seeks out its appropriate fare of 

 spawn, shell-fish, and the larvae of aquatic or fluviatile insects. 

 On the low bushy and shady banks of these streams it con- 

 structs its nest, and on the margins of freshwater ponds in La- 

 brador Mr. Audubon also observed this species ; and he remarks 

 that, instead of rearing its young in the same situations chosen 

 for breeding, as with the Velvet and Surf Duck, it conducts 

 its brood to the sea as soon as they are hatched. Its flight is 

 high and swift, and it swims and dives with the utmost dex- 

 terity. So great is its confidence in the security of its most 

 natural element that on the report of a gun over the water it 

 instantly quits its flight and dives at once with the celerity of 

 thought. It is said to be clamorous, and that its voice is a 

 sort of whistle ; the anatomy of the trachea is, however, un- 

 known, and we cannot tell whether this sibilation be really 

 produced from the throat or the wings, as in the case of the 

 Common Clangula, or Golden-eye. 



Driven from their solitary resorts in the interior by the in- 

 vasion of frost, these birds are now seen out at sea engaged 

 in obtaining a different mode of subsistence. Amidst these 

 icy barriers they still continue to endure the rigors of winter, 

 continually receding farther out to sea, or making limited and 

 almost accidental visits to milder regions. When discovered, 

 they display the utmost vigilance, and instantly take to wing. 



This bird is considered to be game superior in flavor to the 

 Common Wild Duck. From the singular and beautiful crescent- 



VOL. II. — 23 



