14 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAX. MUSEUM. 



of St. Lawrence has become a veritable haven for breeding birds 

 since M. Meunier, the French chocolate king, has debarred all guns 

 from this, his domain. During the last of October and the first part 

 of November for several miles oflf Ipswich Beach the water is covered 

 with these birds, and I have no doubt that the multitude at times 

 numbers 25,000. 



Spring. — The spring migration of this bird is at its height on the 

 New England coast in March and April, but it also continues through 

 May. Although it does not, as a rule, breed south of southern Maine, 

 it is not luicommon to find two or th,ree nonbreeding birds from 

 place to place along the coast in summer as far south as Cape Cod. 



Courtship. — The courtship of the red-breasted merganser is a spec- 

 tacular performance. I (1911) have described it as observed at 

 Ipswich as follows: 



The uuptial performance is al-prays at its best when several drakes are displajiug 

 their charms of movement, voice, and plumage, before a single duck, and each vies 

 with the other in the ardor of the courtsliip. The drake begins by stretching up his 

 long neck so that the white ring is much broadened, and the metallic green head, with 

 its long crest and its narrow red bill, makes a conspicuous object. At once the bill is 

 opened wide and the whole bird stiffly bobs or teeters, as if on a pivot, in such a way 

 the breast and the lower part of the neck are immersed, while the tail and posterior 

 part of the body swing upward. This motion brings the neck and head from a ver- 

 tical position to an angle of 45°. All the motions are stiffly executed, and suggest a 

 formal but ungraceful courtesy. 



This song, emitted when the bill is opened, is a difficult one to describe, but 

 easily recognized when once heard, and remains long in the memory after one has 

 heard it repeated over and over again by a number of merganser suitors. It is a loud, 

 rough, and purring, slightly double note which I wrote down "da-ah," but the note 

 is probably insusceptible of expression by syllables. 



The bobbing and the love note may be given twice in rapid succession, although at 

 times the performance is a single one, or may consist of an extensive bob, preceded 

 by a slighter but similar one. The performance is, however, repeated at frequent or 

 infrequent intervals, depending on the ardor and number of the suitors, and, no 

 doubt, on the attitude of the modestly dressed lady. 



Altliough the female merganser may remain passive and coyly indifferent, as is 

 tlie habit of her sex, she sometimes responds by a bobbing which is similar to that of 

 the male, but of considerably less range. That is to say, the neck is not stretched so 

 straight up, and the breast is not so much depressed during the bob. She emits a 

 single note at tliis time, which is somewhat louder than that of the male and 

 is of a different quality as it is decidedly rasping. As nearly as I can remember tliis 

 note is similar to the rough croaks I have heard given by these birds in Labrador 

 wlien they were flying to and from their nests. 



When the female resi)ond8 in this manner she appears to be very excited, and the 

 ardor of the drakes is correspondingly increased, if one may judge by the frequent 

 repetition of the love antics and notes, and by the fact that they crowd about the 

 duck. Every now and then she darts out her neck and dashes at the ring of BuitorB, 

 just as the female English sparrow does under similar circumstances. 



Tlie bobbing up of the stern of the male is the more conspicuous as the wings are 

 then apparently slightly arched upwards, so that the white secondary feathers are 

 very prominent. These show at all times as the male swims in the water, but in the 

 female they are generally, but not always, invisible. 



