236 BAY, SEA OR DIVING DUCKS 



tion; they are nervous, excitable birds, quick to take alarm, and often 

 by their cries and rapid flight warn the trusting Redheads of the ap- 

 proach of danger in the form of the gunner, and to his chagrin. Red- 

 heads are inquisitive birds and decoy willingly except when in company 

 with the suspicious, wary Baldpates. 



The Redhead is a bird of the open waters, and on its migrations it 

 is to be looked for in the larger bays and lakes. It "rafts" in huge 

 flocks well out from shore during the day and comes in closer to feed 

 in the late evening and early morning. The males are often quite noisy 

 and, whilst floating out in the open in compact flocks, may be heard 

 loudly uttering their deep-toned me-ow, which is the precise imitation of 

 the voice of a large cat. 



The autumn migration is well under way in October. Redheads 

 usually follow close on the heels of the Canvas-backs and, although they 

 generally migrate alone, towards the end of the season they are often 

 found in association with the scaups. In the spring, the middle of 

 March sees them on their way north and they arrive on their breeding 

 grounds just as the ice is breaking up in the sloughs and swamps of their 

 summer range. In their winter resorts near the sea coasts they prefer 

 the inland fresh-water ponds and rarely venture out to sea. The Red- 

 head is one of the least maritime of all the Diving Ducks. Sometimes 

 flocks will winter in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, where they often 

 perish of starvation through the freezing of the smaller lakes in which 

 they have settled. They are hardier than the Canvas-backs, however, 

 and seem to fare better under these conditions than does that species. 



Ring-Necked Duck 



Nyroca collaris 

 (Ni-r6-ka, kol-A-ris) 



Colour Plates Nos. 18 and 21. Downy Young No. 34. 



SCIENTIFIC NAME 



Nyroca, Latinized form of the Russian word Nirok or Nyrok, meaning a 

 diving duck; Colloris, Latin, pertaining to collum, the neck, collared. 



COLLOQUIAL NAMES 



IN LOCAL USE: Bastard broadbill; bastard redhead; black duck; blackhead; 

 blackie; blackjack; blackneck; bluebill; buckeye; bullneck; bunty; butterball; canard 

 noir (black duck); creek redhead (female); dogy; fall duck; marsh bluebill; moon- 

 bill; mudduck; pond bluebill; raft duck; ringbill; ring-billed duck; ring-billed 

 blackhead; ringbill bluebill; ring-billed shuffler; ringneck. 



DESCRIPTION 



ADULT MALE. WINTER PLUMAGE: Head and neck, black glossed with purple 

 iridescence, in some lights, greenish iridescence; feathers of crown, long and elevated, 

 giving a crested effect; narrow chestnut collar around lower neck, incomplete behind; 

 chin, with white triangular patch; bill (fig. 44), dark grey blue, with black tip, 



