72 NOTES ON THE 



male resembles precisely, from fall till spring) is a dark 

 brownish-gray, the throat and broad stripe through the eye 

 lighter, both sexes being white, or mottled with gray under- 

 neath. 



' 'The young are a little lighter than the female. Except in its 

 sojourn in the south in winter, where it may be seen in im- 

 mense flocks, especially in Florida, it is generally in small 

 flocks after the manner of the Buffl.e-head. 



' 'When rising from the water, it runs on the surface for some 

 distance, and generally against the wind. If it cannot com- 

 mand a fair open space for flight, it will dive, using its tail 

 either as a rudder, or as a paddle in a vertical motion, and will 

 hide itself away among the grass and sedges. "When on the 

 wing, it flies low along the surface of the water, with a rapid 

 beat of its broad wings, making a short, plump figure, quite 

 uncommon for a Duck; and it generally flies quite a distance 

 before alighting." 



It arrives from the south not far from the second week in 

 April, possibly a week or ten days earlier, for as has already 

 been intimated, their low unheralded flight, along between the 

 banks of the streams, and usually late in the twilight, or ex- 

 tremely early in the morning, almost precludes the possibility 

 of arriving at precise data as to the time of their arrival or 

 departure. That they do resort to the larger lakes occasion- 

 ally is conceded, yet never have I seen them anywhere but on 

 the creeks, or smaller ponds, except in migration along the 

 Mississippi, when they kept close to the surface. I can recall 

 no time either when by any means they could be driven more 

 than thirty or forty feet into the air, and then only to drop 

 down again as soon as beyond immediate danger. If disturbed 

 by the approach of the gunner, when concealed from him by 

 the banks or a short bend in the stream their feet and wings 

 may be heard in their flight, but they will remain unseen as 

 a general thing. When suddenly surprised, as is sometimes 

 the case, as when gunners come upon them simultaneously 

 from opposite directions, they will dive, and immediately re- 

 verse their direction of submarine escape, and only return to 

 the surface close under the bank amidst debris or reeds, and 

 very much scattered, thus escaping unscathed. 



Nesting is begun in May, from the first week of which they 

 have as apparently disappeared as if they had migrated, all to 

 devote themselves to the great mission of reproduction. I 

 have never personally had the pleasure of finding the nest 



