LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 159 



wiiei-e lie is as much at home as any duck of them all. I have seen black 

 ducks, when they thought themselves imdiscovered and their wit said it was 

 dangerous to fly, sink themselves so that only the head showed above water, 

 and have seen shell drakes settle down in the same style until only their 

 heads were visible and so go darting and zigzagging away when they had 

 down in and settled among a bunch of decoys before discovering the cheat, but 

 I have never seen any of these go completely below the surface without an 

 attempt at diving as does the ruddy. 



Audubon (1840) says: "Their notes are uttered in a rather low 

 tone and very closely resemble those of the female mallard." Rev. 

 J. H. Lang-ille (1881) observes: '"The ruddy duck is nearly noiseless, 

 occasionally uttering a weak squeak." Doctor Wetmore tells me 

 that the female is entirely silent and that the only note heard f '-om 

 the male is the courtship call, tick tick tickity quo-ack. 



Fall. — On its migrations the ruddy duck follows the courses of the 

 streams and the lakes, flying low and in large flocks, often close to 

 water and below the level of the banks of the streams. The flights 

 are made mainly early in the morning or during the dusk of even- 

 ing, perhajis even during the night; they seem to appear suddenlj^ 

 in the ponds and small lakes and disappear as mysteriously; they 

 are seldom seen coming or going. The flocks are made up lai'gely 

 of the dull-colored young birds, and even the old males have acquired 

 their somber autumn dress. They are said to be imsuspicious and 

 easily approached by gunners, but my experience has shown that 

 they are well able to take care of themselves. When in a large 

 flock on an open lake they are particularly difficult to approach, 

 for they will fly long before the gunner can come within gunshot; 

 I have chased them for hours in this way and seen them go spat- 

 tering off close to the surface with a great whirring of little wings, 

 only to drop into the water again at no great distance, without 

 checking their speed, sliding along the surface and making the spray 

 fly ; only when cornered in some narrow bay and forced to fly past 

 the boat do they give the gunner a chance for a shot. Even when 

 suddenly surprised they can escape by diving in remarkably quick 

 time and, swimming under the water for a long distance, come uj) 

 at some unexpected place; often they seem to have vanished entirely 

 until a careful search reveals one crawling out on a grassy bank to 

 hide or skulking somewhere in the reeds. To chase a wounded bird 

 is almost hopeless. When swimming under water the wings are 

 closed and both feet work simultaneously. William G. Smith states 

 in his notes that while hunting in a boat, where the water was clear, 

 he has " often observed " a wounded ruddy duck " dive dow*ii, grasp 

 a weed," and "remain in this position for 20 minutes"; but he does 

 not say whether the duck was alive or not at the end of this re- 

 markable performance. 



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