176 DUCK SHOOTING. 



"I don't think she took them by her mouth, and the 

 one she dropped, if it had been in her mouth we should 

 have seen it. Mr. Eastman, father of the lad, said they 

 often took their young from one lake or river to another 

 if they thought them in danger, and said he had seen 

 them bring the young from the nest to the water and 

 then in their bills, but, to go any distance, or if they are 

 any size, carry them pressed to the body by the feet, and 

 the boys often by a shout made them drop their young. 

 They brought me several different kinds afterward, 

 wood duck, whistlers and hooded mergansers, but no 

 young of the large merganser." 



In a recent number of the Auk (Vol. XVII (N. S.), 

 p. 207, July, 1900) Mr. William Brewster has given a 

 most interesting account of the nesting habits of this 

 species. The article is illustrated by admirable photo- 

 graphs. 



The whistler, as it is frequently called, although re- 

 sorting to the fresh waters during the breeding season, 

 is much at home on the salt water in autumn and winter. 

 It is an expert diver and feeds largely on shell-fish, and 

 when it can obtain them, on small minnows. On the 

 other hand, it readily eats grain and frequents the wild 

 rice fields of the interior and the fresh marshes of the 

 coast, and when it has lived on grain for some time its 

 flesh is very good eating. The name whistler, so com- 

 monly applied to it along the sea-coast, is given because 

 of the quivering, whistling noise made by the wings 

 while the bird is flying, which is often recognizable long 

 before the bird itself can be seen. Other names for this 



