26 



THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



RED-HEAD. 



A few have been taken recently but older 

 notes show a decided diminution in number 

 during the past ten years. 



(754) Clangula hyemalia. (628) 

 OLD SQUAW. 



Always seen in winter in great numbers, some 

 flocks containing several hundred individuals. 



The male is a gaudy bird and makes a very 

 handsome figure, with his two long tail feathers. 

 The flight is a series of quick zigzag move- 

 ments, making them very difficult objects to 

 shoot. They never alight at decoys although 

 many times they will swing in over a "string" 

 thus aff"ording the gunner a fine shot. In the 

 water they are as quick as when in the air and 

 often succeed in avoiding destruction by 'shutting 

 the door' or diving at the flash. 



(160) Somateria Dresseri . (627) 



AMERICAN EIDER; ISLE OF SHOALS 



DUCKS. 



Often seen in large flocks during the winter 

 months. One of our most brightly colored 

 birds an(5 the great diff"erence in the plumage 

 of the male and female add additional interest 

 to the birds. They are of large size, measuring 

 about 24.50 inches in length. Their food con- 

 sists entirely of mollusks which they swallow, 

 shell and all, consequently the muscular walls 

 are of great thickness and capable of doing a 

 large amount of work. This spring I shot one 

 from a flock flying by the decoys and upon dis- 

 section found a huge lump, measuring nearly 

 two inches in diameter lodged in the intestine. 

 Extensive adhesion had developed, but perfor- 

 ation of the gut had not taken place; from the 

 extensive inflammation I should judge that it 

 soon would have resulted. The mass was com- 

 posed entirely of partially digested mussel (My- 

 tilus) shells and the whole mass was deeply 

 stained with bile. Despite this huge "tumor" 

 the bird was flying swiftly along with the rest of 

 the flock as if nothing whatever was the matter 

 with it. 



Among the few remaining water birds which 

 remain or are observed with us in the winter 



are to be mentioned as usual occurences: 



American Golden-eye, (Glaucionetta clan- 

 gula americana) has been observed in fairly 

 abundant numbers, but not lately. 



Harlequin Duck, (Histrionicus histrionicus). 

 One shot by Mr. V. N. Edwards during the 

 winter of '93 — 4. Velvet Scoter, (Oidema fus- 

 ca) often oljserved but not abundant. White- 

 winged .Scoter, (Oidemia deglandi) observed in 

 small numbers during the winter, but very 

 abundant about the first part of May when they 

 pass along the coast in large flocks, from their 

 feeding grounds, northward. The Surf Scoter, 

 (Oidemia perspicillata) is often observed in small 

 numbers, as is also the Ruddy Duck, (Erisma- 

 tura rubida). A few flocks and scattered indi- 

 viduals of the Canada Goose, (Branta canaden- 

 sis) and large numbers of the common Brant, 

 (Branta bernicla) and often a few Black Brant 

 (Branta nigricans). 



But, by this time the winter has been fast 

 disappearing, and some frosty morning while 

 the air still shows traces of the icy touch of the 

 fingers of winter; while you are setting your de- 

 coys lo have a last morning's sport with the 

 spring Mergansers, suddenly with the breaking 

 dawn overhead, you hear a hoarse " Quawk " 

 and high up, in the dim light there moves 

 laboiiously along a black-crowned night heron, 

 heralding the approach of spring which .soon 

 bring to a close the study of ''Winter Bird Life 

 in Southern Massachusetts." 



A FEW NOTES ON MIGRATION IN 

 EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Bird migration undoubtedly arises from a 

 source of direct instinct which each individual 

 has inherited from its jiredecessors. Love of 

 the nesting ground prob.ibly constitutes part of 

 the object in the movement, but birds as well as 

 other forms of life have an irresistable impulse 

 to migrate at certain seasons of the year. 



When one considers the family SylvicoHdce, 

 or warblers, of which a few species extend their 



