34 



Do WOUNDED DIVING BIRDS EVER COMMIT SUICIDE ? 



Every wild-fowler knows that wounded diving birds often 

 disappear under conditions which indicate that they have gone 

 to the bottom and died there, and many duck gunners of long 

 experience can narrate instances where they have actually 

 found birds clinging to the bottom, or have seen their dead 

 bodies rise to the surface after long immersion. Often the dis- 

 appearance of such birds may be explained by the fact that 

 they are able to swim long distances under water and then con- 



Female. Male. 



HARLEQUIN DUCK (Histrionicus histrionicus). 

 (From "Game Birds, Wild-Fowl and Shore Birds.") 



The Harlequin has been known to dive when wounded and cling with its bill to vegetation until 



death. (See page 41.) 



ceal themselves in vegetation near or on the shore, or they may 

 even come to the surface, merely thrusting up the bill for 

 breath from time to time and thus escape detection in rough 

 water. But there are many occasions in wide, still waters 

 where such methods of escape are impossible. Several orni- 

 thologists have made definite statements about the stratagems 

 used by birds to escape the pursuer. Samuels says of the Old- 

 squaw: - 



It is a difficult bird to kill, and when wounded it will dive and cling 

 to the bottom, where it dies. l 



i Samuels, E. A.: Birds of New England, 1870, p. 518. 



