258 



BAY, SEA OR DIVING DUCKS 



species which we did not succeed in hatching in the incubators." He 

 quotes Mr. Hersey's notes as follows: "A brood of Lesser Scaup found 

 on a small pond acted very differently from young Golden-eyes. Instead 

 of separating they drew close together and swam back and forth a few 

 feet. The Indians plunge into 

 the pond, clothes and all, and 

 drive the brood toward our 

 end. They swim along quietly 

 and as they near the end of 

 the pond the Indians close in 

 until they are within a few 

 feet of the birds. Then sud- 

 denly the birds begin to dive, 

 each one swimming under 

 water past the men and com- 

 ing up well out toward the 

 middle of the pond. If the 

 water is clear the Indians will 

 watch the young birds swim- 

 ming and catch them under 

 water, but if muddy they all 

 get safely by and then the 

 whole performance is re- 

 peated. . . . It is no easy 

 matter to catch one of these 

 youngsters. When he realizes 

 he is being chased he makes 

 every effort to get back to his 

 brothers and sisters, patter- 

 ing along the surface much faster than a man can move through the 

 water. However, they usually head him off and he then returns to div- 

 ing. After a while he gets tired and diving once more swims under water 

 until close to the shore when he crawls into the grass. Once on land he 

 loses no time but pushes his way rapidly through the grass. Unless his 

 pursuer is quick he will yet make his escape, but the Indians, aware 

 of this habit, watch the tops of the grass closely, following his move- 

 ments by the slight waving and soon overtake Him." 



The Lesser Scaup seems to show a slight preference only for vege- 

 table food, as this forms about 60 per cent of its diet. An examination 

 of the stomach contents of 1,051 snowed the food of this species to be 

 approximately as stated below. The specimens were collected in 30 States, 

 Alaska, and 5 Canadian Provinces and represent all the months in the 

 year except August. It was found that 52 per cent of the birds had fed 

 exclusively on vegetable matter and 8 per cent entirely on food from the 

 animal kingdom. The percentages of each kind of food were: pondweeds, 

 18; grasses, 10 (including wild rice, 7); sedges, 6 (including bulrushes, 

 5); wild celery, 5; muskgrass, 3; water lilies, 2; coontail, water milfoils, 



