284 BAY, SEA OR DIVING DUCKS 



raised crest made a fierce rush of a few yards at it and in this short space 

 of time the second skua swooped down, picked up a nestling, and swal- 

 lowed it alive, head first. The frantic mother than darted in the other 

 direction when the skua that had first attacked nimbly picked up a 

 duckling and swallowed it whilst mounting into the air." Possibly as 

 a means of protection against attacks of this sort, two mother birds fre- 

 quently join their flocks and may often be seen swimming about, one 

 mother leading and the other following in the rear. 



Another instance of the extraordinary parental devotion of this spe- 

 cies is recounted by Conover (1926) who says: "A brood of five was 

 encountered, and desiring to collect them, with the help of an Eskimo 

 boy I attempted to drive the young ashore in a narrow bay. This failed, 

 so I began to shoot them. Every time one was killed the female would 

 rush up and grab the downy with her bill. Shot after shot was fired, 

 but the female refused to leave, until finally she was collected also. De- 

 spite this care for their young, the mortality among the ducklings must 

 be very high, as later it became a common occurrence to see an Old- 

 squaw swimming about with only one young following her. Many fe- 

 males without broods were about." 



"When searching for food, they string out in a long line and swim 

 abreast. At a signal one at the extreme end goes down, the rest follow 

 in regular time, never all at once, and rarely more than two or three 

 at a time. The last one goes down in his turn with the regularity of 

 clockwork .... They remain under water a long time and usually 

 come up near each other" (Turner, 1886). The duration of the dives as 

 timed by Seton Gordon (1920) averaged about 37 seconds and the inter- 

 val between dives was about 8 seconds. Both feet and wings are used 

 when swimming under water. 



Nearly nine-tenths of the food of the Old-squaw is of animal origin. 

 The stomach contents of 227 of these ducks, collected in 13 States, Alaska, 

 and 8 Canadian Provinces, and taken in every month except September, 

 gave the following approximate percentages: crustaceans, 48; molluscs, 

 16; insects, 11; fishes, 10; miscellaneous animal food, 3; total animal 

 food, 88 per cent. Grasses (including grain bait, 2.5), 4; pondweeds, 2; 

 miscellaneous plant food, 6; total vegetable food, 12 per cent. Gravel 

 averaged about one-third of the total stomach volume. 



"When migrating, Old-squaws fly high in the air in irregular flocks 

 or in Indian file, but at other times they fly close to the water or a few 

 feet above it, but almost never in a straight line; they twist and turn 

 suddenly, showing the back and belly alternately like shore birds, swing- 

 ing in broad circles most unexpectedly. Their flight is so swift and so 

 erratic that it is very difficult to shoot them, but they are often very tame 



or stupid and are quite as likely to 

 swing in toward a gunner's boat as 

 away from it; then in turning they 

 often bunch together so closely that 

 a tempting shot is offered; I have seen 

 as many as nine dropped out of such 



