228 CANADIAN WILDS. 



wish to set the reader right in regard to the 

 whistling noise they make, that is the male. 

 The author of "Wild Fowl and Their Habits" 

 asserts that this noise is made by their snort 

 sharp wings cutting the -air in rapid flight. 

 Were this the case the female would make the 

 same sound, but no one ever heard this whistling 

 from a lone female or a number of females. 



It is from the male we get this; not from 

 the wings, however, but from a gristly sac at- 

 tached at the end of the wind-pipe, much the 

 shape of the bag of the bag-pipes. From this 

 he emits several different kinds of sounds, as I 

 have often listened to when approaching a flock 

 on a calm moonlight night in the mating season. 



Another erroneous assertion by the same au- 

 thor is that the flesh is rank, fishy and hard. 

 The old ones are, more or less so, on their first 

 arrival inland in the spring. At the sea, as a 

 necessity, they live on fish, but a month after 

 reaching inland waters, where they feed on ma- 

 rine plants and roots, the color of the flesh 

 changes. It also becomes juicy and is as good 

 eating as black duck or teal. 



The young ones, when full fledged, just before 

 migrating to the sea for the winter, are excel- 

 lent. 



The French-Canadians call this duck the 



