1916 J TowNSEND, Courtship of Ducks. 



THE COURTSHIP OF THE MERGANSER, MALLARD, 



BLACK DUCK, BALDPATE, WOOD DUCK AND 



BUFFLEHEAD.i 



BY CHARLES W. TOWNSEND, M. D. 



The following studies have all been made within the limits of 

 large cities, where the birds, protected from gunners, act without 

 fear and show, sometimes at close range, their natural character- 

 istics. The Baldpate has been studied at Jamaica and Leverett 

 Ponds, the Merganser, Mallard and Black Duck at these ponds 

 and in the Fens and Back-Bay Basin — all in the Boston Park 

 System — in the reservoir at Chestnut Hill and at Fresh Pond in 

 Cambridge. All of these bodies of water are within four miles of 

 the Boston State House, and, as I frequently pass near them, I 

 have made a practice for several years of stopping whenever possi- 

 ble and watching the ducks through strong binoculars. The 

 BufHehead has been studied chiefly at Squantum and at Lynn 

 Beach, while the Wood Duck has been watched at still closer range 

 in the Boston Zoological Park. All my notes, which were made on 

 the spot and extend over several years, are drawn upon so as to 

 give as complete a picture as possible for each bird. This seems 

 worth while as so little has been published on the courtship of North 

 American ducks. The reader is referred to previous papers on the 

 courtship of the Golden-eye and Eider ^ and of the Red-breasted 

 Merganser.^ 



The occupations of wintering ducks may be roughly divided into 

 three parts. Most of their time is spent in procuring food either 

 by diving or dipping; another part is devoted to preening their 

 feathers and to sleeping either on the water or on the shore or ice; 

 the rest is devoted to courtship. Courtship is commonly to be 

 seen in the autumn months, less frequently in December and Janu- 

 ary, but it occupies more and more time and increases in ardency 

 during February, March and April, before the departure of the 



1 Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, April 26, 1915. 



2 Aiik, XXVII. 1910, p. 177. 

 'Auk, XXVIII, 1911, p. 341. 



