^°^i91o'^"] TowNSEND, Courtship of Golden-eye and Eider Ducks. 177 



112. Hylocichla guttata pallasi. Hermit Thrush. — An uncommon 

 transient, arriving as early as March 2. A few may winter. 



113. Planesticus migratorius. Robin. — A common summer resident 

 occasionally wintering in some numbers. They appear in large flocks 

 about the midtlle of February. 



114. Sialia sialis. Bluebird. — A common resident, more abundant in 

 March than at other times. 



THE COURTSHIPS OF GOLDEN-EYE AND EIDER 



DUCKS.i 



BY CHARLES W. TOWNSEND. U. D. 



The intelligence shown by Golden-eyes or Whistlers (Clangula 

 danrjula americana) in frequenting bodies of water in or near the 

 heart of cities where they are safe from persecution, renders easy 

 a study of their habits, yet very little has been published on the 

 somewhat remarkable courtship performances of this bird. I have 

 watched these courtships at Ipswich and once at Barnstable, 

 Massachusetts, but my most intimate studies have been made in 

 the Back-bay Basin of the Charles River between Boston and 

 Cambridge. 



The spring is of course the time when courtship actions are most 

 indulged in, and they begin on mild days in February and continue 

 until the departure of the birds for the North in April. In the 

 autumn months, however, it is not uncommon to see the same 

 performance given by both the adult and young males, although 

 but incompletely carried out in the latter case. 



The courtship action varies considerably, but a typical and 

 complete one may be described as follows: One or more males 

 swim restlessly back and forth and around a female. The feathers 

 of the cheeks and crest of the male are so erected that the head 

 looks large and round, the neck correspondingly small. As he 

 swims along the head is thrust out in front close to the water, 



1 Read at a Meeting of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Mass., March 

 7, 1910. 



