72 NOTES ON THE 
male resembles precisely, from fall till spring) is a dark 
brownish-gray, the throat and broad stripe through the eye 
lighter, both sexes being white, or mottled with gray under- 
neath. 
“The young are a little lighter than the female. Except in its 
sojourn in the south in winter, where it may be seen in im- 
mense flocks, especially in Florida, it is generally in small 
flocks after the manner of the Buffle-head. 
‘‘When rising from the water, it runs on the surface for some 
distance, and generally against the wind. If it cannot com- 
mand a fair open space for flight, it will dive, using its tail 
either as a rudder, or as a paddle in a vertical motion, and will 
hide itself away among the grass and sedges. When on the 
wing, it flies low along the surface of the water, with a rapid 
beat of its broad wings, making a short, plump figure, quite 
uncommon for a Duck; and it generally flies quite a distance 
before alighting.” 
It arrives from the south not far from the second week in 
April, possibly a week or ten days earlier, for as has already 
been intimated, their low unheralded flight, along between the 
banks of the streams, and usually late in the twilight, or ex- 
tremely early in the morning, almost precludes the possibility 
of arriving at precise data as to the time of their arrival or 
departure. That they do resort to the larger lakes occasion- 
ally is conceded, yet never have I seen them anywhere but on 
the creeks, or smaller ponds, except in migration along the 
Mississippi, when they kept close to the surface. I can recall 
no time either when by any means they could be driven more 
than thirty or forty feet into the air, and then only to drop 
down again as soon as beyond immediate danger. If disturbed 
‘by the approach of the gunner, when concealed from him by 
the banks or a short bend in the stream their feet and wings 
may be heard in their flight, but they will remain unseen. as 
a general thing. When suddenly surprised, as is sometimes 
the case, as when gunners come upon them simultaneously 
from opposite directions, they will dive, and immediately re- 
verse their direction of submarine escape, and only return to 
the surface close under the bank amidst debris or reeds, and 
very much scattered, thus escaping unscathed. 
Nesting is begun in May, from the first week of which they | 
have as apparently disappeared as if they had migrated, all to 
devote themselves to the great mission of reproduction. I 
have never personally had the pleasure of finding the nest 
