The Surf Scoter 331 



that duck ladies like him. "In fact they have to," he continues, "for they 

 are such homely bodies themselves that the perversity of attraction must 

 be mutual. I have seen a Surf Scoter courtship in mid April. Five males 

 are devoting themselves to one female. They chase each other about 

 viciously, but no harm seems to come of their threats; and they crowd 

 around the female as though to force a decision. She in turn chases 

 them off with lowered head and outstretched neck and great show of 

 displeasure. Now and then one flees in pretended 

 flight and with great commotion, only to settle down Courtship 



at a dozen yards or so and then come sidling back. 



"If she will deign a moment's attention, the gallant dips his head 

 and scoots lightly under the surface of the water, showering himself re- 

 peatedly with his fluttering wings. One suitor swims about dizzily, 

 half-submerged, while another rises from the water repeatedly, appar- 

 ently to show the fair one how little assistance he requires from his feet 

 in starting, a challenge some of his corpulent rivals dare not accept, I 

 ween. I have watched them thus for half an hour, off and on." 



At many points in the ocean along the New England coast, where 

 other ducks are not always abundant, the Scoters, locally known as Sea 

 Coots, are extensively pursued by gunners. In describing the methods 

 of hunting them in these regions, George Bird Grinnell has written : 



"Ducking in line is a communal form of hunting. The gunners of 

 a locality agree all to go out on a certain day, and unless fifteen or twenty 

 boats go it is useless to make the start. The boats range themselves in 

 a line off shore, from some headland or point which separates two bays 

 in which the ducks commonly feed. The first boat is placed two or three 

 hundred yards off the shore, the next one a hundred yards outside of that, 

 the next still further out, until the twenty boats extending out from the 

 point make a cordon of gunners, extending out to seas nearly a mile 

 from the point. Usually lots are drawn for position, those nearest the 

 shore not being so desirable as those farther out. An effort is made to 

 be on the ground before daylight, as the shooting begins with the earliest 

 dawn. Often, therefore, the gunners are obliged to rise at two or three 

 o'clock in the morning to make their way to the shore, 

 get into their boats, and perhaps pull a distance of "* 



three or four miles before reaching the ground. . . . 



"The sky grows brighter and brighter, more gunshots are heard, and 

 presently the sun arises. Now, as one looks seaward, great bunches of 

 birds can be seen rising from the water, and these breaking up into small 

 flocks in all directions. Perhaps the first to approach the line will be a 

 bunch of 'Coots,' some of them white-winged, others dead black, and 

 still others gray. They fly swiftly and steadily, and come nearer and 

 nearer, until they have almost reached the line of boats, and then notic- 

 ing them seemingly for the first time they try to check themselves ; 

 but it is too late to turn, and with swift and steady flight, at wonderful 

 speed, they fly on, passing between two of the boats, and twenty or thirty 



