y 



X ..X 



THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



Vol.111. 



Portland, Oregon, June, 1896. 



No. 6 



KADIAK ISLAND 



A CONTRIBUTION TO THE AVIFAUNA 

 OF ALASKA. 



(Continued from Page 64.) 



Clangula hyemalia 



OLD SQUAW. 



A rather numerous species during the 

 winter months having not been met with 

 during the summer, but it is more than 

 probable that they breed on the island, 

 which they could do in many of the un- 

 frequented bays or inlets, many of which 

 are never visited by travelers. 



From November to the following April 

 they were frequently met with on the open 

 waters outside the smaller islands, gen- 

 erally in small flocks of six to twelve 

 individuals, but sometimes they were noted 

 associating with Steller's Eider. As a 

 general thing they were wild and did not 

 approach so near the shore while feeding 

 as other ducks. 



These ducks are surpassed by no others 

 as expert divers, in fact they are about 

 the most aggravating water fowl with 

 which the collector has to deal and to get 

 them one must kill them sufficiently dead 

 to guarantee their remaining dead, for, as 

 long as they have an atom of life left they 

 will endeavor to dive. Their food consists 

 largely of moUusks of which the Wrinkled 

 Purple (Purpura crispata) forms a large 

 part, the shells being swallowed whole as 



shown by many examples taken from 

 their crops. 



HistrionicuB hietrionicua 

 HARLEQUIN DUCK. 



A bird of the surf; loving the breaking 

 water and deserting its ocean home only 

 to raise it's young on some adjacent river 

 and again return to wage endless war 

 upon the decapods and mollusca, to check 

 whose increase seems to be its mission in 

 creation. 



This duck is a resident on Kadiak 

 throughout the year but to associate it 

 with ponds and lakes as is so often done 

 in pictures seems a misconception as the 

 bird is as much a surf lover as any of the 

 "surf ducks" and when hunted or 

 wounded will dodge in among the rocks 

 where it well knows no boat can follow. 



In June they resort to the rivers to breed 

 but never ascend them far and regularly 

 tly back and forth to the ocean to feed. 

 Their cry is a shrill whistle descending in 

 cadence from a high to lower note, com- 

 mencing with two long notes and running 

 off in a long trill. 



The writer has often watched the males 

 in spring, calling, and the actions of these 

 birds may justly be said to resemble the 

 crowing of a rooster. In giving forth 

 their call the head is thrown far back 

 with the bill pointing directly upwards and 

 widely open; then with a jerk the head is 

 thrown toward and downward, as the cry 

 is uttered and at the same time the wings 



