200 GAME BIBBS OF CALIFORNIA 



they are vigilant, soon putting themselves out of gunshot range by 

 flight or b}^ diving repeatedly and swimming rapidly away under 

 water. Even by this second method they can easily outdistance a 

 row-boat. The White-winged Scoter appears to be a perfectly silent 

 bird, save for the flapping or whizzing sound produced by its wings 

 as it rises heavily from the water. 



This species usually flies low over the water, but during migrations 

 it attains considerable heights. It often exhibits curiosity and may 

 be attracted within gunshot by the hunter waving some object in the 

 air or even by firing off his gun. Baird, Brewer and Kidgway (1884, 

 II, p. 94) say that "Hunters often resort to the expedient of shooting, 

 in order to alarm the flock. This often has the desired effect ; the 

 foolish birds, alarmed at the unusual noise, make a sudden plunge in 

 the direction of the w^ater, as if that element alone could give them 

 safety, and in their descent present the opportunity desired by the 

 hunter." This habit is peculiar to the White-winged Scoter. On 

 Monterey Bay, August 29, 1910, Beck (MS) saw a number of White- 

 winged Scoters in molt. The birds had lost their wing quills and were 

 unable to fly. 



The food of the White-winged Scoter consists of small fish, mol- 

 lusks, crabs, and the like (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 1884, II, p. 

 96). On San Francisco Bay the birds are often to be seen around 

 the wharves diving for the mussels which cling to the piles. Many 

 of the people who daily cross the bay note these flocks of worthless 

 scoters near the ferry moles, and some of them make covetous remarks 

 about the availability of "roast duck." A little close observation 

 would show these people that the scoters are foraging for a diet which 

 is not conducive to a delicate flavor. A stomach from IMonterey con- 

 tained only the shells of univalve mollusks ; one of the shells contained 

 a hermit crab. The mollusks represented were 1 Olivclla hiplicata, 4 

 Olivella intorta, 1 Nassa perpinguis and 1 Mangilia variegata. An- 

 other stomach contained several small "sand-dollars" (Echinoidea). 

 Stomachs of this duck from Massachusetts examined by the United 

 States Biological Survey contained 44 per cent mussels, 22 per cent 

 quahogs (a kind of clam), 19 per cent periwinkles, 9 per cent hermit 

 crabs, and smaller percentages of algae and other vegetable matter 

 (Forbush, 1912, p. 162). 



The Indians of the far north relish this scoter as an article of 

 food, along with practically all other kinds of sea fowl. But to the 

 w^hite man it has the strongest and most disagreeable taste of any of 

 the ducks. Some hunters have told us that by skinning the birds 

 before they are cooked nuich of this disagreeable flavor can be elim- 

 inated. Even a poor shot can hit this clumsy duck and as the birds 

 decoy easily the ' ' sport ' ' afforded in shooting the White-winged Scoter 



