THE AMERICAN EIDER 383 



wary than the average gunner would suppose 

 to see them come to decoys, for this they do 

 readily, a single bird or a small flock being al- 

 most sure to come in if they see the ''tolers." 

 The larger flocks are less likely to notice de- 

 coys — a general rule with all ducks. 



These birds arrive in New England waters 

 about December first, and have nearly always 

 gone north again by the middle of March or the 

 first of April at latest, varying their movements 

 as the season is mild or severe. 



The Sea Duck is a powerfully made fowl, 

 about twenty-four inches long and in extent 

 some forty inches. The males will average to 

 weigh between five and six pounds ; the females 

 a pound less. The male in full plumage is a 

 remarkably showy bird, the contrasting effects 

 of his snowy white and jet black plumage in 

 broad areas being very striking. His head is 

 black on the crown and sides down through the 

 eyes and back to the base of the skull, with a 

 thin strip of white running over the centre of 

 the hind head and narrowing to a point on the 

 crown. The cheeks, throat, neck, back, upper 

 coverts and drooping plumes of the wings, the 

 upper breast, also a spot on each side of the 



