HARLEQUIN DUCK. 87 



banks of the Yukon delta I lay in my blankets many hours at night, 

 and listened to these rhythmical sounds which, with a few exceptions, 

 were the only ones to break the silence." This cry is very familiar 

 to all who have occasion to be near the shores of Hamilton Bay in 

 spring. Here the birds assemble in large flocks, before leaving for 

 the north, and when this cry is started and kept up with spirit by 

 each member of the flock, the concert is heard a long way off, and is 

 a subject of wonder to all who hear it for the first time. The note 

 consists of five syllables often repeated, and is variously translated 

 in diiferent regions. Along the shores of the north of Scotland, 

 where large bands of the birds spend the winter, it is said to call for 

 two articles which are indispensable during the long, dark nights of 

 this di'eary season : "Coal and can'le licht, coal and can'le licht." 



Genus HISTRIONICUS Lesson. 

 HISTRIONICUS HISTRIONICUS (Linn.). 



55. Harlequin Duck. (155) 



Bill, very small and short, tapering to the tip, which is M'hoUy occupied by 

 the nail, and with a membraneous lobe at its base; tertiaries, curly; plumage, 

 singularly patched with different colors. JIa/e : — Deep bluish lead color, 

 browner below ; sides of the head and of the body posteriorly, cliestnut ; 

 coronal stripe and tail, black ; a white patch at the base of the bill and another 

 on the side of the occiput, of breast and of tail, two transverse ones on side of 

 neck forming a nearly complete ring, and several on the wings ; a white jugular 

 collar ; speculum, violet and purple. Female : — Dark brown, paler below, a 

 white patch on auriculars and before the eye. Length, 15-18 inches; wing, 8 ; 

 bill, 1. 



Hab. — Northern North America, breeding from Newfoundland, the Rocky 

 Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada northward ; south in winter to the Middle 

 States and California. 



Nest, composed of weeds and gi'ass, lined with down from the breast of the 

 owner; it is sometimes placed in a hollow tree oi- stump, more frequently on 

 the ground, not far from the water. 



Eggs, six to eight, pale green shaded with buff. 



The Harlequin is found on the northern shores of Europe, Asia 

 and North America. On the last named continent, it breeds spar- 

 ingly in Maine and in the North- West as far as Alaska. It has also 

 been found in the northern Rocky Mountains and in the Sierra 

 Nevada. In winter it descends to the Middle States and California. 



With these facts before us, we naturally expect to hear of the 



