■Sqi.] Mxcvi.w, Habits of t/ic Scofcrs. 285 



is thick and stormy weather, tliey pass farther out from land tlian 

 formerly, owiui^to their bcini^ shot at. When migrating- they Hy 

 very much hij^her in calm than during windy weather, and if 

 there is any diHerence in the elevation of their flights at such 

 time, I should say the .Surf Scoter flew the highest (with the ex- 

 ception of those White-winged Scoters which migrate west in 

 May). 



1 do not think it is generally known, or has been before stated, 

 though I have known the fact for cwenty years, that a very large 

 number of the Whitc-'ivinged Scoters which make tlieir winter 

 home in the waters adjacent to Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Muske- 

 get Islands regularly make a migration in May to the zvcsixuard as 

 farasNoank, Connecticut, where 1 have ascertained they aie found 

 during the latter part of May. They fly in the evening and at night, 

 very high up, in a due uorthwcsi direction^ usually passing in 

 moderate niuggy weather, making a low gutteral sound at inter- 

 vals. As I cannot obtain any data of their occurring west of this 

 point on Long Island Sound, I venture to suggest that they pass 

 high up over the state of Connecticut during the night and 

 reach their breeding grounds at the north by the Connecticut 

 River and Lake Champlain or Hudson River routes. This 

 movement is a peculiar one, inasmuch as it takes place about the 

 middle of May, and after the greater portion of the migration of 

 this group has passed by, as also in ignoring the coast route ac- 

 cepted by all the rest. My attention was first directed to this un- 

 usual movement during the spring of 1S70, while shooting at 

 West Island, off Seconnet Point, Rhode Island, and it has oc- 

 curred regularly every year since that date, as was undoubtedly the 

 case earlier. These birds are apparently all adults, and do not 

 seem to heed the regular migration to the eastward of many of 

 their own kind, which has no eflect in hastening their departure 

 for the north. When the time arrives for them to set out on their 

 migration, and the meteorological conditions are favorable — for it 

 must be clear at the westward — they always start late in the after- 

 noon, from three to five o'clock, and continue the flight during 

 the niglit, passing by Marthas V^ineyard, Wootls Holl, Seconnet 

 Point, Point Judith, and Watch Hill, quite a number frequently 

 going over the land near the coast, they being very erratic at such 

 times in their movements. This flight lasts for from three to 

 seven days, according to the state of the weather. I have never 



