8o6 THE OLD-SQL' AW. 



IF you are able to disregard the peevisli dalis of cnlfl rain wiiicli tlie nurth 

 wind flings in your face as you trutlge td and I'm im ihe f( n'ard deck nt ihc 

 slruggiing steamer. \c>n will see a stirring sight, — an endless procession of 

 waterfowl of a dozen species huri"\-ing southward. The time may he late 

 October, \\hen onl\- the timid ll\- south, or ii may l)e earl\' Januarw when e\-en 

 the most hardy graceful!}' own defeat and come scampering down l)efore the 

 compelling blasts. The place would better be t'leorgia Strait, or say, Hale 

 Passage, between Lummi Island and the mainland. Jlere the "Ice Ducks'' 

 revel in the open water, and here they rise liefore the i)lodding steamboat, 

 passing and repassing the bows in long inelo(lions lines, or dashing off hotlv 

 to less disturbed areas. 



Tho his flight be graceful ;md strong, it is as a musician that the Long- 

 tailed Duck enjo_\'s preeminence. Of course the interpretation of music 

 depends on both the culture and the mood of the listener. Fisher-folk, weary 

 of their incessant racket, ha\e called our birds vScolders, .\unt lluld\s, Old- 

 S(|uaws, and other un])leasant things: but we bird-per)ple are apt to bend an 

 indulgent ear toward the efforts of our fax'orites, and especially in rpiarters 

 where luerit is unexpected and rare. vSundcx all, the Swedish ( ? ) naturalist, 

 called the bird the singing duck, "because its spring song is both sweet and 

 sonorous." The birds are eiuinetitly sociable, and a coiu]iany of twenty indi- 

 \ iduals aroused to utterance at the same time w ill raise a chorus which ma_\' be 

 heartl a mile awav. The notes are mellow and resonant, but it may be con- 

 ceded that thev have something of a grumbling quality. ()( iik )li-o( iik)Ii-lcli, 

 o{uk )h-o( Ilk )h-lcli. oi iilc lli-ii( III: lli-h-h may afford a suggestion of the 

 truiupeting of a single inili\idual ; but when ;dl are at it at once the eftect is 

 indescriljabh' enhanced. 



Savs Mr. Iv W. .\elson : "Muring all the spring season until the \oung 

 begin to hatch the males have a rich musical note, frequentl\- repeated in dee]), 

 reed-like tones. .Xmid the general hoarse chorus of waterfowl which is heard 

 at this season, the notes of the (.lld-S<piaw are so harmonious that the fur 

 traders of the u]i]ier ^'nkon lia\'e christened him the Organ Duck, a well- 

 merited name. I ha\e freipientl}' sto|)ped and listened with deep pleasure lo 

 these harmonious tones, while lra\'ersing the broad marshes in the dnn twi- 

 light at midiu'ght, ;nid while ])assing a lonely luonth on the dreary banks of the 

 Yukon delta T la\- in ni\" blankets luany hours at night and listened to these 

 rhxthmical sounds which with few e.\ce]>tions were (he oiil\- ones to break' the 

 silence." 



These notes, howtwer, are not at all confined to the spring of the year, 

 for thev are used to express uneasiness at the presence of the hunter as readily 

 as ardor in love. If one has hostile intentions it is ea.sy to single out a chorus 

 and row toward it, even tho the birds are unseen. When seated upon the 

 water these birds exhibit mucli white, and under certain weather conditions 



