164 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Mr. W. S. Cochrane, State game warden of Arkansas, also in a 

 letter to Mr. Forbush, describes a similiar performance; after watch- 

 ing for three hours, he saw the female carry down the young on her 

 back, as follows: 



She visited the nest several times and after circling around the woods returned 

 and rested on the edge of the nest which was in a hollow stub of the oak. After 

 resting there about 10 minutes she flew down toward the water with her wings slightly- 

 elevated, and when about 10 feet from the water she began flying in an upward posi- 

 tion, allowing one of the young which she was carrying on her back to slide off over 

 her tail into the water. She went through this performance 14 times. 



Mr. A. B. Eastman (1915) gives us the following account of the 

 behavior of the young: 



One day a friend and I were out on a little camping and canoe trip and on round- 

 ing a sudden bend in the creek above the pond, we came upon a mother duck and 

 about seven little ones. A sudden note from the mother caused a prompt disappear- 

 ance of the ducklings into the depths below. The courageous mother, however, 

 instead of beating a hasty retreat, as one would most naturally expect, came flying 

 toward the canoe and flopped down just in front of us, beating the water with her 

 wings and trjing by every means to make us believe that a crippled duck was just 

 within our grasp. Seeing no signs of the little ones we started to follow the mother 

 as if intending to catch her. She skillfully decoyed us up by the creek until around 

 another bend when we were, in her estimation, a safe distance from her Uttle brood. 

 She then suddenly and miraculously recovered and quickly disappeared among the 

 heavy growth of hardwood timber which clothes the banks of the creek. We promptly 

 returned to the scene of the first encounter. The little ones had evidently recovered 

 from their fright as we saw three of them swimming around. On seeing us, two of 

 them dove, while the other made slowly for the bank, half submerged like a grebe. 

 As soon as it landed we made a dash for the spot and the little fellow led us a merry 

 chase through fallen timber, across ditches and through thicket and tangle. We 

 finally corralled him, however, and made him pose as a photograph, much against his 

 will. After taking a good look at the youngster, we set him down near the creek 

 bank, and by the way he took to the water, we could imagine him congratulating 

 himself on his fortunate escape from his terrible captors. 



Mr. Manly Hardy, in his manuscript notes sent to Major Bendire, 

 relates the following incident : 



I once came suddenly upon a female with six half-grown young. As I approached 

 the young ran into tlie tall grass while the mother flew away. I captured one while 

 they were trying to escape to a bend in the stream above. An hour or more after, 

 while approaching the stream above by a road through the woods from which I could 

 see and not be seen, I saw the old one who had evidently been below looking for the 

 missing one, flying high in the air until she was nearly opposite me, when dropping 

 into the water she uttered a sharp call note upon which three young came out from 

 the bushes on the right-hand bank and swam toward her — this evidently not pleasing 

 her, she uttered a different note when they turned and swam back. She then, with- 

 out moving, gave the first call note again, when two swam out from the left bank and 

 came to her. Taking these with her she swam up abreast of where the others had 

 disappeared, called them out and swam upstream with the united family. It was 

 plain that slie could count enough to know if one was missing, also that she had 

 different notes by wliich she called her young or sent them away from her. 



