INTRODUCTION 



The harlequin duck ( Histrionicus histrionicus ) is a small sea 

 duck, found inland only during the breeding season. The male is 

 strikingly colored with black and white spots and slashes, and 

 chestnut sides on a deep cobalt blue background. The female is 

 dull brown with three white spots on her face. Harlequins breed 

 in western North America from Alaska and the Yukon south through 

 western Montana to California; in eastern North America they 

 breed form Baffin Island south to eastern Quebec and Labrador 

 (Goudie 1993) . In the Palaearctic they breed in Iceland, 

 Greenland and Siberia (A.O.U. 1983) . Approximately 110 pairs of 

 harlequins currently breed in Montana (Genter 1993) , with most 

 located in the following areas: 1) tributaries of the lower Clark 

 Fork River; 2) tributaries of the North, Middle, and South Forks 

 of the Flathead River; 3) streams coming off the east front of 

 the Rocky Mountains; and 4) the Boulder River (Miller 1988, 1989, 

 Kerr 1989, Carlson 1990, Fairman and Miller 1990, Diamond and 

 Finnegan 1992) . 



During the breeding season harlequins are found along fast 

 mountain streams (Bengston 1966) . In many areas harlequins use 

 streams with dense timber or shrubs on the banks (Cassirer and 

 Groves 1990) , but they are also found in relatively open streams 

 along the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Montana (Markum and 

 Genter 1990, Diamond and Finnegan 1992) and the Arctic tundra ■ 

 (Bengston 1972) . In Idaho, 90% of observations occurred near old 

 growth or mature timber stands (Cassirer and Groves 1990) . Mid- 



