° 1911 J Townsend, Courtship of the Red-breasted Merganser. 343 



During the courtship actions the tail is elevated at an angle of 

 forty-five degrees, and it may or may not be widely spread at the 

 same time. In one case the male kept the tail permanently erected 

 and spread during the intervals as well as during the actual antics. 

 This bobbing courtship of the males, although sometimes directed 

 towards the female, is as often directed towards another male or 

 even the empty water. 



The males not infrequently rush at one another with powerful 

 leg-strokes making the water foam about their elevated breasts. 

 Sometimes they raise their wings slightly or splash along violently 

 using both wings and feet for propulsion. Now and then a male 

 pursues a female, and she, to avoid capture, may dive and is at 

 once followed by the male. In flight the female generally precedes 

 by a short interval the male. Out of fifteen pairs observed in 

 flight on April 20, 1907, in twelve the female flew first. In Labra- 

 dor I found this sequence was the rule among courting Eiders 

 except when the pair were startled, when the drake ungallantly 

 outsped the duck. As far as I have observed there is no display 

 of the feet with the accompanying spurting of the water as in the 

 case of the Whistler. 



The positions often assumed by Mergansers, both male and female, 

 with the neck stretched flat along the surface of the water as they 

 swim, and with the bill partially immersed as if they were straining 

 the water for food, or with all of the head below the water except 

 the crest as if they were looking for fish, are, I believe, not parts of 

 the nuptial performance and are common at all seasons. So also 

 the momentary erect position with flapping wings is common at all 

 ti mes of the year, although its advantages for display leads me to 

 think that at times it forms part of the courtship actions. This is 

 especially the case when the bird rises up, as he sometimes does, 

 with wings close to the side, and recalls the similar actions of the 

 Eider in displaying his black belly-shield. 



The migration of the Red-breasted Merganser is an impressive 

 one on account of their numbers, but there are some interesting- 

 points in the distribution of the sexes and of the immature birds 

 and adults that are well worth study. I am inclined to believe 

 from an examination of the figures in my records for the last ten 

 years that this bird has of late considerably increased in numbers. 



