Feb. 1887.] 



A^D OOLOGIST. 



19 



would filially give way before the summer heat. 



The nests of the Common Comorant contained 

 generally four or five eggs, but I was fortunate 

 enough to take about five sets of six each. The 

 eggs average considerably larger than those of 

 the Double-crested, besides being more rounded 

 or elliptical, while those of the latter species 

 are (juite pointed and never, as far as my expe- 

 rience went, reached beyond five in number. 



Merganser serrator, Red-l)reasted Merganser. 

 Common, but breeds only in fresh water on the 

 mainland, and probably some distance from the 

 coast. None of the natives I spoke to about it, 

 ever knew of their nesting on the outer islands. 



Anas obscura, Black Duck. Not common, 

 but a few pair found breeding on the islands; 

 the nests being generall}' placed upon the out- 

 reaching branches of stunted spruces, which 

 seldom attain at highest, above four feet. One 

 nest was fully two hundred yards from the sea, 

 and another which contained nine eggs, was 

 distant at least one hundred yards from the 

 water. The natives say they return year after 

 year to the same nest. 



Anas carolinensis, Green-winged Teal. Early 

 in September I saw two which an Indian had 

 just killed from a bunch of six, in the vicinity 

 of Esquimaux Point. 



Clangula ht/emalis, Old-squaw. Onlj' a mi- 

 grant, and I saw none after about June the 

 .5th. 



Histrionicus mhuttus, Harlequin Duck. A 

 few immature birds with an occasional adult 

 summer about Cape Whittle, where they can 

 be found about the outer islands and most ex- 

 posed ledges fishing in very deep water. Two 

 specimens were brought me on July 5th. 

 None breed. 



Somateria mollissima, Eider. Probably a mi- 

 grant, as one specimen taken on May the 18th, 

 not far from Esquimaux Point, showed a very 

 clear resemblance to this species. 



Somateria dresseri, American Eider. About 

 Esquimaux Point a few "Moyac," as the Indi- 

 ans call them, still struggle against hard fate 

 in an honest endeavor to rear their young, but 

 the gulls that fly and the gulls that walk are 

 generally too much for the i^oor ducks, and the 

 successful ones are those which go back from 

 the shore and secrete their nests among the 

 spruces in the centre of the islands. At Mus- 

 quarro I really first met with them. We an- 

 chored there late in the afternoon, and as I was 

 rather tired after being aboard for several days, 

 I thought a run on laud would be a pleasant 

 relief. So I started in my small boat for a lit- 

 tle island of not over two acres in extent, which 



lay just under our stern. The island, which 

 was very steep and rounded, was covered with 

 a short soft grass about six inches high, and as 

 I approached the shore, first one head bobbed 

 up and then another, until I was soon aware 

 that I had fallen in with quite a colon3\ 



The nests were scattered about everywhere, 

 among the small rocks just above tide-water, 

 and in the grass all over the island. They were 

 always built of the soft, slate-colored down 

 from the parents breast, which made a fitting 

 receptacle for the beautiful greenish-yellow 

 eggs, the handsomest of all the ducks. After 

 landing on this island, it took me less than two 

 hours to gather in some seventy odd sets. 



A favorite place for an eider to build, is at 

 the foot of some large rock, or in an angle 

 formed by two rocks, where they are sheltered 

 from the wind, and times without number, I 

 would come suddenly ui)on birds in such posi- 

 tions; and once, in stepping over a rock, my 

 foot came squarely down upon an Eider's back, 

 and I doubt which was scared the most, the old 

 duck or myself. Another time, I came upon a 

 nest placed upon some high rocks, in such a 

 way that as I approached from the only open- 

 ing the bird was fairly penned, and after mak- 

 ing one or two vain attempts to jump over the 

 rocks, mother duck settled back and quacked 

 for mercy. I hekl her some time and by scratch- 

 ing the top of her head I apparently succeeded 

 in making her feel quite contented. 



Of the large number of nests I examined, 

 most of them contalu'id four or five eggs. A 

 large number held six, two seven ; and one nest 

 had eight. If not disturbed, the bird on leav- 

 ing the nest draws the down over it, and so 

 conceals the eggs. The male never sits, and 

 leaves the female soon after^the eggs^ are laid, 

 and gathering into large flocks they wander 

 about wherever their food is the most abundant. 

 As soon as the young are hatched the mother 

 leads them to the water, and as many as three 

 or four broods combine together, serving as a 

 natural protection against the rapacious Saddle- 

 backs; but even this protection often proves 

 insufficient, and many is the poor duckling 

 which meets his fate in this way. By the time 

 their feathers start they are old enough to be 

 safe against the gulls, but then man comes 

 along with his surer means of destruction and 

 shoots them on all occasions, for they are cer- 

 tainly delicious eating. 



Of all birds which I met on the Labrador 

 coast, for none did I feel such a genuine sympa- 

 thy as for the persecuted Moyac. A Murre 

 faces extermination with a stupid ignorance 



