176 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Spring. — Dr. F. Henry Yorke (1899) says of the spring migration: 



The first spring flight of this well-known duck passes the frost line whilst the ice 

 still remains upon our lakes, water only existing in open holes or channels; the 

 birds follow closely after the canvasback and like that bird appear in good-sized 

 flocks. They stay but a short time, working rapidly toward the north and going to 

 the far end of the British possessions. The second issue arrives about a week after 

 the first has departed ; if abundance of food be present, they stay until the advent of 

 the third issue, then travel north also beyond the boundary line. The third begins 

 to pair upon reaching latitude 44° and spreads all over the country up to Manitoba. 



Courtship. — Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1920) gives the following 

 interesting account of the courtship of the redhead: 



The peculiar mating display of these birds seen on several occasions was observed 

 to advantage on June 4. A party of four males and three females were swimming 

 in open water, two of the birds apparently being mated. Suddenly one of the 

 females began to display, approaching one of the males with her head held high, 

 sometimes jerking it up and down and again holding it erect, and at intervals 

 calling quek que-e-ek, the last a peculiar rattling note. The male chosen extended 

 his nock, holding his head erect, frequently whirling quickly to show the female 

 his back, or again sank down with his head drawn in while the female bowed before 

 him. At short intervals she opened her mouth and bit at him gently or, if he was 

 swimming, sprang quickly in front of him with her head erect and back partly 

 submerged. She transferred her attentions from one male to another in turn, even 

 approaching the one who apparently was mated. The males showed considerable 

 jealousy over these favors and drove each other about in fierce rushes. At intervals 

 they called, the note being a curious drawn-out groaning call, resembling the 

 syllables vhce ough given in a high tone. As it was given the male sometimes 

 raised his breast, elevated his head, and erected his crest. Again he threw his head 

 straight back so that it touched his dorsum above the rump, with the throat up 

 and the bill pointing toward the tail. The bill was then thrown up and head 

 brought again to the erect position as the call was made. The curious actions of 

 the male in calling continued after he was mated, and the strange call note was 

 heard often. Mated males were seen driving savagely at their mates and biting at 

 them while they escaped by diving. 



Nesting. — My first experience with the nesting habits of the red- 

 head was gained in North Dakota in 1901 where we found it 

 breeding abundantly in all of the larger sloughs where there was 

 plenty of deep open water in the center, surrounded by extensive 

 areas of cat-tail flags ( TypJia latifolia) , bullrushes (Scirpus lacustris) , 

 and tall reeds (Phragmites communis) ; its nest was most often found 

 among the flags or bullrushes, growing in water a foot or more deep, 

 and least often among the PJiraginites which usually grew in shallower 

 or drier places. I quote from my own published notes (1902) as 

 follows: 



We first met with it on June 3 in a large slough in Nelson County, where the 

 water was not over knee-deep, except in a few scattered open spaces, and where 

 the reeds and flags were somewhat scattered and open. A pair of Canada geese 

 nested in this slough and two pairs of marsh hawks, but it was chiefly tenanted by 

 yellow-headed blackbirds, coots, and long-billed marsh wrens. The blackbirds 

 fairly swarmed in this slough, and the constant din of their voices was almost 



