DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 217 



this season, like most of its kind, although the 

 flocks are seldom or never so large as the gather- 

 ings of Scoters and others. Its flight is remarkably 

 quick, the long tail making the bird look extremely 

 elegant. It is also an expert diver, disappearing as 

 quick as thought, and often going for long distances 

 beneath the surface, like a Grebe or a Shag. It 

 obtains most of its food by diving, and, like the 

 Eider, often comes shore wards with the tide. It 

 feeds in deeper water, too, than many of its allies, 

 as much of its prey is captured, not at the bottom, 

 but floating in the sea. This food consists of small 

 molluscs, crustaceans, minute marine animals, 

 insects, and water plants, and weeds. Its note 

 may be described as a loud cal-loo-oo. 



The Long-tailed Duck breeds in the Arctic 

 regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, 

 above the limits of forest growth, and, possibly, 

 as far north as land exists. During summer, it 

 frequents inland pools and lakes ; odd pairs taking 

 possession of the former, many pairs congregating 

 on the latter. The birds arrive in the Arctic 

 regions with the break-up of the ice, congregating 

 in the pools amongst the floes. The nest is usually 

 placed in some sheltered nook, amongst birch and 

 willow scrub, in long grass, or on the drifted 

 rubbish by the banks of the subsided rivers. It is 

 little more than a hollow, lined with down. In this, 

 during June or early July, from seven to twelve 

 buffish-green eggs are laid by the female. It is a 



