A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON SOME UNDER-WATER 

 ACTIVITIES OF CERTAIN WATERFOWL. 



EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ORNITHOLOGY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In preparing a work on Massachusetts birds it became nec- 

 essary to settle some questions regarding the habits of birds 

 in respect to which the statements of ornithologists do not 

 agree. For example, ornithologists have gone on record with 

 statements to the effect that the Coot, Brant, Gadwall or other 

 waterfowl never dive; that grebes and certain other birds never 

 use the wings for propulsion under water; that Wood Ducks 

 and other arboreal nesting ducks do not carry the young from 

 the nest to the water, etc. Such statements have been made 

 by men whom ornithologists respect, but they should not have 

 been made, as there is no possibility of proving them, and they 

 are very likely to be misleading, to say the least. 



He who says that a bird never does what it is possible for 

 that bird to do is assuming too much knowledge for mortal 

 man. We may well record what we have seen birds do, or 

 report what any trustworthy observer has seen, but if we 

 attempt to deny that a bird does this or that, or to base any 

 theory on such an assumption, the burden of proof is on our 

 heads, and sooner or later we may find ourselves in error. 



Birds' habits vary according to circumstances and localities. 

 Individual temperaments and behavior differ greatly. No de- 

 scription of the habits of a bird will do for all conditions and 

 for all parts of its range. Some statements were made in my 

 "History of the Game Birds, Wild-Fowl and Shore Birds" 

 which have been adversely criticised. In nearly every case 

 prior investigation or observation had convinced me that 

 they were correct. It was learned afterward, however, that 

 the behavior of certain ducks in the east was quite different 

 from that of the same species in parts of the south and west, 



