240 



BAY, SEA OR DIVING DUCKS 



weeds, 13; sedges, 8; grasses, 8; smartweeds, 6; muskgrass, 5; delta duck 

 potato, 4; coontail, 4; burr reeds, 1; miscellaneous plant food, 17; total 

 vegetable food, 81 per cent. Insects, 11; molluscs, 6; miscellaneous, 2; 

 total animal food, 19 per cent. As 571 of these stomachs came from the 

 states of Florida and Louisiana alone, and as 686 were collected during 

 the months of November, December, January and February, it is prob- 

 able that a larger number of stomachs collected during the remaining 

 months of the year and from different localities, might change, to some 

 extent, the foregoing percentages of diet. 



The Ring-neck is a first-class table bird, though on account of its 

 appreciably smaller size it does not rank as high as the Redhead or Gan- 

 vasback in the Diving Duck group. It is usually exceptionally fat and 



is certainly preferable to the 

 Scaups and Golden-eyes. In 

 the Diving Duck group, the 

 ones which are preponderant- 

 ly vegetable feeders are the 

 Redhead (90 per cent), the 

 Canvas-back and the Ring- 

 neck (80 per cent each) and 

 the Lesser Scaup (60 per 

 cent); all the others are 

 mainly animal feeders. Those 

 consuming the larger per- 

 centages of plant food are al- 

 ways the better from the culi- 

 nary standpoint. 



Ring-necks decoy readily 

 and generally pitch right in 

 among the wooden blocks 

 without hesitation, circling or 

 reconnoitering. They usual- 

 ly arrive in small flocks of 

 from 3 to 12 birds, flying 

 with great speed in an erratic 

 manner. Since the flocks are 

 generally in open formation, 

 rather than bunched as in the 

 case of the Scaups, they do not offer such vulnerable targets. They are 

 in no way shy and even constant gunning will not drive them away from 

 their favourite feeding places. They show great preference for certain 

 spots and will return again and again to a pond which they like, refusing 

 to visit an adjacent pond which to all intents and purposes seems identi- 

 cal with the first. 



In the autumn, migration starts before the middle of October, slight- 

 ly in advance of that of the Lesser Scaups; by the end of November the 

 last flocks have usually crossed the Canadian border. In the spring they 



