35 



Again he says of the scoters: 



A wounded coot is a difficult bird to secure, especially if he happens to 

 be a sagacious black White-wing. Often he will submerge all of his body, 

 leaving only his bill out of the water, and sometimes will dive, keeping 

 hold of the kelp on the bottom and dies in that position. 1 



Elliot says of the Red-head : 



When all other means fail it will dive to the bottom, seize some grass 

 in its bill and hold on till life is extinct commit suicide by drowning, 

 in fact, rather than fall into the hands of its pursuer. 



He says practically the same thing of the Lesser Scaup and 

 the American Scoter, and he says also of the latter: 



If wounded it will frequently seize some grass at the bottom, as already 

 related of other deep-water ducks, and commit suicide by drowning 

 rather than permit itself to be captured. If the water is clear the bird 

 can be seen close to the bottom, and if an oar can be made to meet it, 

 by repeated pushes, it can be compelled to release its hold, when it usually 

 rises to the surface, although sometimes it will swim to another clump of 

 grass and hang on to that. 2 



Elliot, however, does not say that he himself has seen this, 

 although he was an experienced sportsman as well as an orni- 

 thologist, nor does he tell how the bird attaches itself to the 

 vegetation; but Mackay, also an experienced sportsman and 

 ornithologist, is more definite. Writing of the scoters he gives 

 a definite instance and shows how the bird holds on: 



When wounded and closely pursued, they will frequently dive to the 

 bottom (always using their wings as well as feet at such times in swim- 

 ming under water) and retain hold of the rockweed until drowned, pre- 

 ferring to die than to come to the surface to be captured. As an instance 

 of this, I may mention that on one occasion I shot a scoter when the water 

 was so still that there was not even a ripple on its surface; after pursuing 

 the bird for some time I drove it near the shore, when it dived and did 

 not reappear. I knew it must have gone to the bottom, as I had seen 

 the same thing repeatedly before. As the occasion was a favorable one 

 for investigation, the water being clear and not more than 12 or 15 feet 

 in depth, I rowed along carefully, looking continually into the water 



1 Samuels, E. A.: With Rod and Gun, 1897, p. 408. 



2 Elliot, D. G.: The Wild Fowl of the United States and the British Possessions, or the 

 Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers of North America, 1898, pp. 158, 166, 207-208. 



