198 The Goose-like Birds 



drakes, who welcomed their brown wives with loud and clamorous cooing. The 

 house itself was a marvel. The earthen walls that surrounded it and the window 

 embrasures were occupied by Ducks. On the ground the house was fringed with 

 Ducks. On the turf slopes of its roof we could see Ducks, and a Duck sat on the 

 door-scraper. The grassy banks had been cut into square patches, about eighteen 

 inches having been removed, and each hollow had been filled with Ducks. A 

 windmill was infested, and so were all the outhouses, mounds, rocks, and crevices. 

 The Ducks were everywhere. Many were so tame that we could stroke them on 

 their nests; and the good lady told us that there was scarcely a Duck on the 

 island that would not allow her to take its eggs without flight or fear. Most of 

 the eggs are taken and pickled for winter consumption, one or two only being left 

 in each nest to hatch." The nests in many places are described as being made 

 of seaweed and lined with the down, plucked by the female from her breast, until 

 it makes a heap four or five inches deep around and among the eggs. The prod- 

 uct of down from each nest is about one sixth of a pound, and curiously enough 

 is said to be of a better quality than when taken from the dead bird by hand. In 

 some localities the nests are despoiled of the down and the bird forced to make 

 use of grasses and stems as a lining. The eggs are four or six in number and 

 usually of a pale olive-buff or olive-green. After incubation is well under way 

 the males generally live apart from the females, and often at a distance from 

 shore. The food of these Ducks consists largely of mollusks and crustaceans, 

 which they secure by diving and which they are enabled to crush with their power- 

 ful bills. 



The Scoters (Oidemia), or "Coots" as they are sometimes called, are large 

 surf or sea Ducks in which the large, strong bill is usually much swollen at the 

 base. The bill is also brightly colored with yellow, orange, or red. The males 

 are, in general, uniform black, relieved in some cases with white on the wing or 

 with white patches on the head, while the females are mostly plain brownish, 

 lighter and more grayish beneath. They have short, strong legs placed far back 

 on the body, large feet, and strong wings. All are natives of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere, although not so distinctly Arctic as the Eiders, four of the six species (one 

 of which is perhaps accidental) being found in North America. The habits of 

 all the species are practically the same. As a rule they are found only on the sea 

 or its estuaries, where they feed almost exclusively on mollusks, such as the black 

 mussel, shallops, and razor-shells. These they obtain by diving, often to a depth 

 of forty feet, though they prefer water less than half this depth. As an indica- 

 tion of how large a shell-fish they can swallow, Mackay mentions mussels two 

 and one half by one inch as having been taken from them. Eight or ten of the 

 ordinary size constitute a meal. The Scoters are described as unusually silent 

 birds, depending mainly upon sight in discovering their companions. The devo- 

 tion of the male to his mate is very marked, and when she is killed he will return 

 again and again to the place where he last saw her though repeatedly shot at. 

 Another peculiarity, noted by Mackay, who has enjoyed exceptional opportunity 

 of observing them off the New England coast, is that "when wounded and closely 

 pursued, they will frequently dive to the bottom and retain hold of rock weed with 



