192 Ferry, Summer Birds of Saskaicheican. [Anril 



and immediately the head and neck of the young would disappear into the 

 parent's capacious pouch and gullet. With such energy would the young 

 bird do its work that the parent was sometimes almost pushed off its feet. 

 Often the two birds would struggle back and forth in a manner suggestive 

 of a strenuous contest. The young birds, after being fed, would settle 

 down and apparently go to sleep. The old birds would stand about 

 preening, gaping, occasionally charging at an old or young bird which they 

 regarded as an intruder. 



Few of the old birds still retained the odd excrescence on the bill at the 

 time of our first visit, and during our second visit, a bird thus ornamented 

 was seldom seen. None of the adult birds we took had any pink lustre to 

 the plumage, except sometimes at the tip of the tail, on its under side. 

 The full-grown birds varied considerably in size. 



The feeding grounds of the adults was a matter of much speculation on 

 our part. The waters of Quill Lake are strongly alkaline, and it is doubtful 

 if any fish live there, except possibly in and at the mouths of creeks enter- 

 ing the lake. Yet fish undoubtedly formed a part of the bird's diet, as we 

 found several disgorged by the young birds, some of considerable size. 

 We suspected tlmt the birds had some distant feeding ground, and color 

 was lent to this theory by the behavior of the birds each evening. Between 

 five and seven flocks of from six to twenty-five individuals flew in a south- 

 west direction over the prairie. This direction would lead them to the 

 region of Lost Mountain Lake, some thirty-six iniles distant, and possibly 

 to some intervening lakes and creeks. Our brief and much locahzed 

 observations could not settle such a matter definitely, however. 



The number of the adult or young pelicans could not be told witli cer- 

 tainty, but we estimated the number of the young birds to be between 

 750 and 1000. A photograph of a single group of young shows 250 birds. 

 And this group could not have represented more than one-third of the 

 total number of young. There must have been between 300 and 500 old 

 birds. 



The mortality among the young was considerable. Their dead bodies 

 lay strewn about all over the island, which was about an acre in extent 

 and perfectly flat. There were also colonies of the Ring-billed Gull and 

 Common Tern on this island. 



IL Lophodytes cucullatus. Hooded Merganser. — Three of these 

 birds were seen on Middle Quill on June 23. They alighted close to an 

 island where we lay concealed. One was shot but not recovered. They 

 were all either females or immature males. On July 10, at the southern 

 end of Quill Lake, two broods of four or five were seen. They were about 

 two-thirds the size of the adult. 



12. Anas platyrhynchos. Mallard. — A common breeder at Prince 

 Albert, and to a less extent at Quill Lake. Near the latter place, it prob- 

 ably would have been found much commoner in neighboring sloughs and 

 ponds. It is locally known as "stock duck." Nests containing fresh 

 eggs were found at Prince Albert on May 29 and June 1. The former 

 contained eight fresh eggs; the latter nine fresh eggs. 



