A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE 



DEVOTED TO THE STUDY AND PROTECTION OF BIRDS 



Official Organ of the Audubon Socikticb 



Vol. XIII May— June, 1911 No. 3 



Ceremonials of Courtship Practiced by 

 the American Merganser 



By WILLIAM BREWSTER 



THE behavior of American Golden-eyes, or Whistlers, while engaged 

 in courtship has been rather closely studied and fully described* of late, 

 but that of American Mergansers does not appear to have received 

 similar attention. Although I have been familiar with the latter birds since 

 boyhood, only one opportunity of seeing the males pay court to the females 

 has ever been vouchsafed to me. This occurred at Fresh Pond, Cambridge, 

 Mass., on March i6, 1909, when I WTote the following account of the expe- 

 rience in my journal: 



There were thirty-one Mergansers in the pond, when, in company with 

 Mr. H. A. Purdie, I reached it about nine o'clock this morning. Nineteen 

 were drakes in full nuptial plumage and twelve females or immature males 

 (not to be distinguished from the females with any certainty when living, 

 even in spring). For the first half hour or so the birds were at a considerable 

 distance; but. on the calm water and in the clear morning light, they could 

 be seen very distinctly with the help of the small telescope that I carried. 

 During this time most of the males were constantly absorbed in their atten- 

 tions to the females. Their behavior was in some respects not unlike that 

 of Whistler drakes when similarly employed. In numbers varying from three 

 or four to ten or a dozen, they would collect about one or two females, or 

 follow them from place to place in single file, never interfering with one 

 another in any way or showing the least sexual jealousy or animosity. While 

 thus employed, they were, how^ever, much more active and animated than 

 Whistler drakes, swimming fast at all times and sometimes gliding over 

 the water with really surprising swiftness, yet very evenly and smoothly. 

 The combined movements of such a group were often so abrupt or so intricate 

 that it was difficult to follow them closely with the eye or to interpret their 

 precise significance. In a general way, they seemed to represent a sort of 



*By Dr. C. W. Townsend in The Auk, Vol. XXVII, No. 2, April, 1910, pp. 177-179: 

 also by W. Brewster in The Condor, Vol. XIII. No. I, January, 191 1, pp. 22-30. 



