88 GAME BIBBS OF CALIFOMNIA 



she leaves the nest, provided she is not routed out too suddenly. The 

 eggs number from six to ten in a set and are laid early in June. 

 Downy young are most commonly seen during July. The incubation 

 period is 26 to 28 days (Strong, 1912, p. 482). The male takes no 

 part in the duties of incubation, and it is doubtful whether he assumes 

 any of the care of the j^oung. 



Concerning the behavior of the females and young, Grinnell 

 (1900, p. 15) says: 



At Cape Blossom on August 1, 1899, I encountered a brood of six downy 

 young with the female i)arent. They were out in the middle of a lake, and 

 the juveniles swam in a close bunch. The parent kept diving at short intervals, 

 and whenever she reappeared, which might be at a considerable distance from 

 where she dove, the band of young with one accord scrambled over the water 

 towards her, with flapping arms, and almost running on the surface. The fore- 

 most chick, probably always the hungriest of the lot, was apparently the one 

 to obtain the prey which in all cases observed was a small fish. 



Dawson (1909, p. 762) states that a female when surprised with 

 her brood played dead as a ruse to deceive her pursuers. 



The food of this duck consists almost entirely of fish. In Alaska, 

 according to Nelson (1887, p. 67), ". . . in the brackish ponds and 

 tide creeks of the marshes they find an abundance of food in the 

 myriads of sticklebacks which swarm in these waters." In the East 

 it is said that the birds also eat crustaceans and shellfish. Mr. F. A. 

 Shebley, of the Brookdale Hatchery, Monterey County, California, 

 says he has shot fish ducks along the stream so gorged with fish that 

 by holding them up by the feet, the fish would fall from their mouths. 

 He states further that birds of this species stay mostly in the lower 

 courses of the streams, and in the lagoons of his vicinity. Linton 

 (19086, p. 126) saw them frequently feeding in tide pools in the 

 vicinity of Northwest Harbor, Santa Cruz Island. The stomach of 

 a bird taken there December 2, 1907, contained nine "rock bass and 

 one spotted shark," each two to four inches long. 



This duck cannot be considered an important game bird (a state- 

 ment which applies also to the American Merganser) as the fish taint 

 in its flesh caused by the fish diet makes it undesirable for food. 

 However, during the season of 1895-96, 217 "sheldrakes" were sold 

 in the markets of San Francisco and Los Angeles (Calif. Fish Comm., 

 1896, p. 40). Since then, birds of this species have rarely been seen 

 in the markets of San Francisco and Sacramento. As this merganser 

 is shy and hard to approach it is only obtained Avith difficulty. Con- 

 sequently there seems to be no immediate danger of its extermination. 

 And yet the very fact that it is difficult to shoot gives it a certain 

 value in the eyes of the hunter. The increasing efficiency of firearms, 

 will also have some effect on the numbers of this species. 



