502 



LAMELLIliOSTUAL SWIMMERS — AXSERES. 



This Duck keeps eontiimullj inovin<,' about in small jjarties all night. When 

 ■woiin.led it fretiuently escajjes by divin};, aiitl often tlies a great distance before fall- 

 ing, even when fatally hit, and not infreipicntly strikes the water at least half a mile 

 from where it was shot. In stormy or very severe weather this species seldom 

 ventures out to sea, and at such times hies low, affording a good opportunity to the 

 hunter. 



In mild winters, when food is easily procured, it is in tine condition, and is highly 

 esteemed. It does not, like other Ducks, always rise against the wind, but will 

 spring up in any direction, and continue to ascend until out of reach. Its voice gen- 

 erally resembles that of the common Domestic Duck, but at times it gives utterance 

 to a loud whistling note. 



Mr. ( riraud nu^ntions that when he was at Niagara Falls, Oct. 1(>, 1840, eighty -three 

 Dusky Ducks were killed by flying into the Falls, anil were picked up by the boatmen 

 in attendance a short distance below. This is said to be a not unusual occurrence in 

 foggy weather, when many Ducks lose their lives by alighting a short distance from 

 the precipice, being carried over and killed before they can rise. 



Mr. Lewis states (" American Sportsman ") that this Duck is brought in innumer- 

 able quantities into the New York and riiiladelphia markets, where it meets with a 

 ready sale ; though he regards its Hesh as inferior to that of most other wild species 

 of Ducks. In this, however, I cannot agree with him ; as when brought to market 

 from fresh-water regions, during the fall, it is usually excellent. In severer weather, 

 when it feeds in the salt water, and in the spring, when vegetable food is not procur- 

 able, the character of its flesh is changiMl, and it is then less desirable. 



JMany are shot in the salt-marshes of the Delaware ; here, however, they become 

 very wary, and cannot be decoyed. They feed on small bivalves, so abundant in these 

 waters. They swim and fly with great velocity. Their notes are not distinguishable 

 from those of the ^^allard ; but their flesh, owing to the character of their food, is at 

 times inferior. On the Delaware, as on Long Island, they are killed, on moonlight 

 nights, by hunters who lie in wait for them as they return from the sea to the marshes 

 to feed. 



Major Wedderburn states that this Duck occasionally visits the l>erniudas in the 

 fall and winter, making its appearance about the middle of September, and being last 

 seen in December. Mr. Kobert Kennicott met with a few individuals of this species 

 in Northern Minnesota, where they were feeding on wild rice in company with 

 Mallards. 



In Southern Wisconsin, where nearly all the other fresh-water Ducks are so abun- 

 dant, Professor Kumlien informs me that this species is by no means common. It is 

 more frequently met with in the fall than in the spring. He has never seen it there 

 in the summer, and he does not believe that it breeds in that region. INIr. Audubon 

 found it breeding in the Bay of Fundy on the 10th of May, 1833, where he met with 

 young birds apparently not more than a week old. 



The flight of this Duck is similar to that of the Mallard, but is even more powerful 

 and rapid, and equally well sustained. It maj^ always be readily distinguished from 

 that species by the whiteness of its lower wing-coverts, which strongly contrasts with 

 the dark tints of its general plumage. 



The eggs of this species are of a deep grayish white, usually with a slight tinge of 

 green. Three eggs obtained north of Rupert House (Smithsonian Institution, No. 

 4348) have the following measurements : 2.50 inches by 1.76 ; 2.35 by 1.75 ; and 2.50 

 by 1.85. 



