[164] BIRDS OF OREGON 



THE SPRIGHTLY little Buffle-head, or Butterball, is one of our widely dis- 

 tributed wintering species and is found wherever there is open water. It 

 appears most frequently in our records in the coast district, along the 

 Columbia and Snake Rivers, and in the big duck counties, Harney, Lake, 

 and Klamath. Our earliest date is September 2.0 (Lake County); our 

 latest, May 15 (Tillamook County). It is rather remarkable that none 

 of the earlier naturalists mentioned the species in their writings. The 

 first record we find for Oregon is Bendire's report (1877) f it as a common 

 migrant at Camp Harney, but there is an unrecorded specimen in the 

 University of Washington Museum, taken by O. B. Johnson at Forest 

 Grove, January 6, 1876. Since that time it has been reported by many 

 naturalists. 



In our experience, this beautiful little waterfowl was one of the most 

 abundant and widely distributed winter ducks up to about 1930. Since 

 then there has been a very noticeable reduction in the numbers that visit 

 the State. Allen (1909) once reported the Buffle-head as breeding in 

 Klamath Lake but later wrote the Biological Survey that this record was 

 not to be used, and as there is no other evidence of its nesting within our 

 limits, its status remains that of a migrant and winter resident. 



Few waterfowl that visit Oregon are more conspicuous than the little 

 black and white male Buffle-head, either in the air or riding high on the 

 water to best display its strikingly contrasted color pattern. The flight 

 is exceedingly swift, and this, combined with its small size, makes it a 

 difficult target. The bird is so small that it has little food value, even if 

 the meat were of the finest quality. Frequently the meat is strong and 

 unpalatable, however, particularly in our coastal waters, and conse- 

 quently the bird is comparatively little sought by local gunners. 



Old-squaw: 



Clangula hyemalis (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. "A trim little duck with short bill; male with long slender tail; head 

 not crested. Adult male in winter: head and fore parts to shoulders and breast white, 

 except for patches of ashy and dusky on side of head; back middle tail feathers, and 

 breast black; belly white posteriorly, shading into pearl gray on sides. Adult male 

 in summer: sooty, except for white belly, ash gray face, and white eyelids; back and 

 scapulars streaked with chestnut. Adult female in winter: tail not lengthened; head, 

 neck, and under parts mainly white; chest grayish; crown dusky, rest of upper parts 

 dusky brown, the scapulars bordered with lighter brown. Adult female in summer: 

 head and neck grayish brown, with whitish spaces around eye and on side of neck. 

 Young: similar to female in summer." (Bailey) Downy young: "The downy young 

 old-squaw is very dark-colored above, very deep, rich 'clove brown, ' becoming almost 

 black on the crown and rump, and paler 'clove brown' in a band across the chest. 

 This dark color covers more than half of the head, including the crown, hind neck, 

 and cheeks; it is relieved, however, by a large spot below the eye and a smaller one 

 above it of whitish, also an indistinct loral spot and postocular streak of the same. 



