184 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



The male Old-squaw may be known from all other ducks by its 

 stocky build, white and blackish coloration, extremely long and nar- 

 row middle tail feathers, and the orange-colored band across its bill. 

 In both sexes the bill is small and narrowed towards the tip, there are 

 no white or bright color markings on the wings, and, during the 

 winter, the head is more or less white. The female is quite similar to 

 the female Harlequin Duck, but has a much more extensively white 

 under surface, though less conspicuously contrasted white patches on 

 the sides of its head (figs. 24 and 26). Its peculiar, organ-like call- 

 notes are specially good field characters, for the Old-squaw even in 

 winter is a noisy duck. 



The plumage changes of this duck seem to be different from those 

 of many other species, for no eclipse plumage is acquired during the 

 late summer molt of the flight feathers (Stone, 1900, p. 20). On the 

 other hand there is every imaginable gradation between the winter 

 and summer plumage, with frequent so-called "arrested" stages. 



The courting antics of this species in southern Alaska are thus 

 commented upon by Dixon {in Grinnell, 1909?>^ p. 196) : 



They [the males] were all iutoiiating "auek-quan-dee" to their utmost 

 capacity and the one that holloed the loudest seemed to stand the best chance, 

 so there was considerable competition. There seemed always to be about 

 three males to one female. 



Nelson (1887, p. 73) gives the following description: 



The male is often seen swimming rapidly about the female, his long tail- 

 feathers raised to an angle of about 75 degrees and vibrating rapidly from 

 side to side as he passes before the female, uttering the love note at short 

 intervals. If he becomes too pressing in his suit, the female suddenly dives 

 and is instantly followed by her partner, and then a moment later they appear 

 and take wing, and a playful chase ensues, the two diving at full speed and 

 flying above or below in rapid succession until they are tired. It is common 

 for two or three males to join in this follow-the-leader kind of game after 

 the female, and in the end the latter usually flies to some secluded pool with 

 her choice, while the discomfited suitors move off in search of some easier prize. 



In western Alaska nesting begins early in June and young are to 

 be seen b}' the end of the same month. W. Palmer (1899, p. 378) 

 found nests on the Pribilof Islands placed almost anywhere on the 

 flat ground near ponds, but usually on some small rise. They were 

 built of grass and lined with l^laekish down. 



From the Yukon delta along the coast in each direction their nests are 

 almost invariably placed in close proximity to a jiond or tide creek — the slop- 

 ing grassy bank of the ponds being a favorable location. The parents always 

 keep in the immediate neighborhood and swim an.xiously about in the nearest 

 pond when the nest is approached. An unusual amount of dry grass stems 

 and down plucked from the parent's breast composes the nest, and if the eggs 

 are left they are carefully hidden in the loose material. 



