136 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



water and in rough weather they take advantage of the eddies be- 

 tween the waves. The flight is usually along the seacoast, follow- 

 ing all the large indentations of the coast and crossing the smaller 

 bays; but, where considerable distance is to be gained they often 

 fly across capes or necks of land, usually all at about the same 

 place. There is a regular crossing place on Cape Cod, Massachu- 

 setts, from Barnstable Harbor to Craigville beach, a distance of 

 about 3 miles; this is one of the narrowest points on the cape and 

 it saves them many miles of flight around the horn of the cape. 

 Gunners take advantage of this confirmed habit and assemble there 

 in large numbers to shoot at the passing flocks ; when flying against 

 a strong south wind here they usually fly low enough to shoot, but, 

 if not, a loud shout from the gunners often brings them scurrying 

 down to within range. 



Edwin S. Bryant (1899) describes an interesting flight habit of 

 this species, as follows : 



This bird has some habits unlilie those of other ducliS. The most prominent 

 habit is the morning flight. This does not occur so regularly as at first I 

 supposed. But if a person is so fortunate as to be present when a great 

 flight is in progress, he will witness what I consider to be a fascinating picture 

 of bird life on the prairie. 



Imagine if you can a body of water some 6 or 7 miles long and 2 miles wide 

 where it leaves the main lake, extending northward, bounded on both sides 

 by undulating prairie. Take for a background the steep hills on the far side 

 of the lake, or the heavy timber of Grahams Islands — let the time be sunrise, 

 with the dewdrop jewel accompaniment that the poets rave about. Fill the 

 air with hundreds of scoters, circling and quartering after the manner of 

 swallows, most of them fanning the weed tops in their flight. Plying by pairs, 

 side by side, and in companies of pairs, they often circle about a person sev- 

 eral times, within easy gunshot range ; and if one is so disposed, he may shoot 

 a pair with one discharge of the gun, so closely do they keep together. As 

 would be supposed, the white wing patch is very conspicuously displayed as 

 the birds glide around. In half an hour the performance is at an end. 



In two minutes time the scene changes as if by magic. All the birds are 

 making offshore together. With a glass I follow them. Their dark bodies 

 stand out in contrast with the whitecaps, and the flash of a wing patch against 

 a green wave is the last seen of theui as they settle down far out in the lake. 

 Later in the day they will swarm along shore or congregate on the numerous 

 sandy points. 



A. D. Henderson has sent me the following notes on the habits 

 of this species in northern Alberta : 



These birds are much esteemed by the halfbreed Indian population, and up 

 to a few years ago residents in the northern part of the Province were allowed 

 to kill them at any time for food by a special provision in the game act. 

 They make the best wing shooting of all the ducks, as they seldom swerve from " 

 the gunner. They seem to be the most amorous of the ducks, readily decoy- 

 ing to a wounded female and chasing her on the water within easy range of a 

 canoe in the breeding season. In spring they fly from daylight until about 9 

 o'clock, and it is then they are shot as they round the points on the lake or 



