HARLEQUIN DUCK. 



AS fantastically decorated with various stripes as is the 

 face of the Harlequin marked for the pantomime, 

 this bird must rank as one of our beautiful species of 

 Ducks. It is a native of the northern portions of both 

 the New and Old World, and in the Eastern Hemisphere 

 goes to Japan. In North America it ranges from the 

 Arctic regions southward to the middle States and Cali- 

 fornia, and breeds in the West from the Rocky and Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains, and in the East from Newfound- 

 land, northward. It cannot be said to be a common 

 species anywhere, and few sportsmen have ever seen it in 

 life. It is a solitary bird, except under especial circum- 

 stances, and goes either alone or in pairs, and haunts the 

 most retired spots along the mountain streams, where 

 the Ouzel delights to sport itself in the running water, 

 or under the sparkling curtain of the foaming cascade. 

 It breeds in such situations, but just where the nest is 

 situated does not yet seem to be fully established. I 

 have never seen it, and the accounts given of its situa- 

 tion prove that the bird alters its habits in a way not imi- 

 tated by any other Duck, and influenced by the locality in 

 which it may find itself. Thus Mr. C. W. Shepard states 

 that he found it breeding in Iceland in holes in trees on 

 the banks of the River Laxa. and Dresser says that the 

 nest is placed on the ground, although he has never seen 

 the nest himself, nor does he give any authority for his 

 statement. Many observers have met with the old birds 



195 



