1913 FOR DUCKS IX XOHTHEKN OXTAEIO. 7 



relative amount of each present in the waters where the birds had been feeding. 

 When this is clone the wild celery appears as much the most important. As ex- 

 plained above the celery would cover possibly ten acres, the Myriophyllum would 

 certainly cover over 600 and the Potamogeton heterophyllus probably 100-200 

 acres; that is, although there was sixty times as much Myriophyllum and ten to 

 twenty times as much of the Potamogeton neither on the whole formed such an 

 important article of food. 



Two of the varieties, viz : the Whistler and the Hooded Merganser contained 

 substantial quantities of animal food, but there was absolutely no fish in the seven 

 Whistlers examined and only an insignificent amount of fish in the five Mergansers. 

 This was not because they were not obtainable, as the waters where these ducks 

 were killed are teeming with small fish. The writer has on previous occasions 

 examined the gizzards of many Whistlers and Hooded Mergansers without finding 

 fish, although fish remains would be easily recognizable. In the Eeport of Ontario 

 Game and Fisli Commission, 1892, (p. 331), in describing the Whistler this 

 appears: "It feeds on fish, shellfish, molluscs, marine vegetables and seeds. Its 

 flesh is consequently fishy and almost unfit for food." This Eeport ignores the 

 Hooded Merganser, and states tl at the Buffle Head's flesh is fishy and that its 

 food consists of small fish. All these birds, the gizzards of which were examined 

 were in fine condition and of excellent flavor. No doubt they will take fish if they 

 cannot find anything else they like better, as we would eat hard-tack if we could 

 not get bread. 



The food of the small Merganser was shown to be almost exclusively animal, 

 but it was insects, not fish. Both the Whistler and the Hooded Merganser are. 

 important for Northern Ontario as they are probably the most usual and wide- 

 spread varieties there now. fTheir taste for animal diet should give them an 

 advantage in the quest for food. They are certainly well worth propagating. 



IMPORTANCE OF VARIETY IN FOOD. 



The fact that human beings crave for variety in food and that the system 

 revolts against a diet of any single thing is known to everyone. Domestic fowl 

 show the same taste. If the liking for variety has anything to do with the in- 

 telligence, then the duck should show it more than other birds. It is impossible 

 to study the detailed analyses of each of the thirty gizzards given by Mr. Thomson 

 (not published) and come to any other conclusion. Of this number only two had 

 been feeding on one thing exclusively, in both cases Vallisneria seed. Of the 

 eighteen Bluebills and Buffle Heads all but one contained some Potamogeton 

 lieteropliyllus seed, several gizzards were more than half filled with this material, 

 but none of them contained that alone, although any one of these birds could have 

 easily found enough of this seed to form its sole diet. In addition to this the 

 different plants offer their most attractive food at different times of the year: 

 probably, also, in some seasons the growth of certain of the varieties would be more 

 or less a failure. Those interested should therefore try to offer a variety of food 

 for the ducks. From the descriptions and illustrations anyone can identify the 

 various plants and transfer them from one lake to another according to directions 

 given and put them in a suitable depth of water. With the introduction of wild 

 celery and any other deep water plants which may be found suitable to the northern 

 lakes, the number of the deep water feeders will be increased. As shown before, 

 these varieties are the most suitable for the north. A widespread planting of 

 members of the Lemna family in suitable places would improve the means of 

 supporting marsh ducks. 



