98 A. L. V. Manniche. 



abundant. More sparsely I found them in the fresh waters far in- 

 land and at the heads of the firths. I also met with a few nesting 

 birds on the smaller isles, lying near the field-ice as for instance 

 Renskæret and Maroussia. 



Most northerly it Avas seen at lat. 80°23'. n; Koch here observed 

 2 Long-tailed-Ducks in the open water off Mallemukfjeldet (June 8*^ 

 1907. In the summers 1907 and 1908 this species arrived at Storm- 

 kap respectively June 15**^ and 11"^. 



The birds first arrived Avere almost all males. 



The duration of the migration was about one week. Like the 

 Divers and the King-Eiders — the company of which this bird liked 

 to join — the Long-tailed-Ducks were obliged to fly far and wide 

 to find their food. Open water was extremely sparse and even the 

 smallest ponds of melted ice were therefore visited by the birds. 

 As however the larger fresh waters gradually thawed, the birds re- 

 sorted to these. The Long-tailed-Duck preferred small lakes with 

 shallow water lying near the coast; but also in the mouths of larger 

 rivers the birds used to stay, generally however only for shorter 

 periods. At this season the birds were hardly ever to be seen in 

 cracks made by the tide or in salt-water melting-ponds. 



By the end of June I met with couples of Long-tailed-Ducks 

 everywhere at the nesting-places. Before this time violent pairing- 

 battles — or perhaps more correctly pairing-plays — were fought. 



These were very interesting to observe: I often saw 2 to 3 

 Drakes chasing one Duck, and often they pursued her under the 

 surface of the water. The peculiar far sounding voice of the birds 

 was continually to be heard in the pairing season. The birds used 

 to be very little shy at the nesting-places. On my arrival they 

 would only swim to the middle of the pond even on quite small 

 waters. 



Though the pairing seemed to go on in quite the normal way 

 in the summer of 1907, the ducks — like other sea-birds — did not 

 nest this summer; I assured myself of the fact by diligently visit- 

 ing the nesting-places — wellknown from the preceding summer. I 

 found only one brood with two half-grown young ones in the large 

 river by Hvalrosodden. (August 22'^'*.) 



The Duck, which accompanied her young ones, had lost her 

 primaries by moult. The number of old birds corresponded to what 

 I had seen on the same localities in August 1906. 



In 1908 the breeding conditions were normal. 



In the beginning of July several females had begun to nest. A 

 fully developed egg Avas taken out of a bird killed June 24*^. Some 

 Ducks would nest much later in the season; thus I found still many 



