A ROCKY MOUNTAIN LAKE 143 



This mountain lake was also the abode of a number 

 of species of ducks, not all of which could be identified, 

 on account of the distance they constantly put between 

 themselves and the observer. Flocks of them floated 

 like light, feathered craft upon the silvery bosom of the 

 lake, now pursuing one another, now drifting lazily, 

 now diving, and anon playing many attractive gambols. 



One of the most curious ducks I have ever seen was 

 the ruddy duck, called in the scientific manuals Erisma- 

 tura rubida. As I sat on a rock on the shore, watching 

 the aquatic fowl, one of the male ruddy ducks, accom- 

 panied by three or four females, swam out from the 

 reeds into an open space where I could see him plainly 

 with my field-glass. A beautiful picture he pre- 

 sented, as he glided proudly about on the water, sur- 

 rounded by his devoted harem. Imagine, if you can, 

 how regal he must have appeared his broad, flat bill, 

 light blue, widening out at the commissure, and seem- 

 ing to shade off into the large white cheeks, which 

 looked like snowy puffballs on the sides of his head ; 

 his crown, black and tapering ; his neck, back, and sides, 

 a rich, glossy brownish-red ; his lower parts, " silky, 

 silvery white, c watered ' with dusky, yielding, gray un- 

 dulations"; and his wing-coverts and jauntily perked- 

 up tail, black. If that was not a picture worthy of an 

 artist's brush I have never seen one in the outdoor 

 world. 



