Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 497 

 14. HOODED MERGANSER 



LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS (Linnseus) 



Occasional in winter. One was shot on November 21, 1900, 

 2 on December 9, 1901, both very fat, and 2 on December 15, 1904, 

 a male and a female. They were both shot while in one of the open 

 pools in the ice. A few were noted December 2, 1902, and 1 on 

 March 9, 1903. 



This and the two preceding species are, of all the ducks, per- 

 haps the most destructive to fish life. In Alaska and elsewhere 

 in the West, where there are salmon streams, these fish ducks de- 

 stroy great numbers of salmon fry. Fortunately the fishes on 

 which they feed at Maxinkuckee are unimportant species, and 

 these ducks are not sufficiently abundant, nor do they remain long 

 enough, to do much damage. 



15. MALLARD 



ANAS PLATYRHYNCHOS Linnaeus 



The Common Mallard, or -Greenhead, is one of the abundant 

 ducks, particularly in the fall. We have only the following spring 

 references : March 3 and 31 and April 1, 4, 6 and 11, 1901. 



In the fall we have noted it on various dates from September 

 22 to January 3. From October 1 to December 30 it is usually quite 

 common. When on the lake they are usually seen some distance 

 from shore or else in solitary pairs in secluded nooks or coves. 

 Single individuals or pairs are often seen in protected places about 

 Lost Lake. Formerly the Mallard bred at this lake but apparently 

 few, if any, do so now. At night they come near shore or resort to 

 the land, where they feed on seeds or stems of land or swamp 

 plants. 



In the open pools left in the lake when it freezes over, the 

 Mallard is one of the ducks most often seen. The ice about the 

 pools is often covered with muddy tracks made by mallards that 

 have returned from their nocturnal feeding grounds in the marshes. 



The Mallard is the most alert of all the ducks. When ap- 

 proached in the open they will take wing long before one is within 

 shooting distance. When come upon suddenly, they are up and 

 away with a loud, quacking noise. They have the loudest voice of 

 any and are the most noisy. They are particularly noisy on quiet, 

 foggy or muggy nights, and their frequent quacking is almost 

 identical with that of their domesticated kin. 



