DUCKS AND GEESE 77 



female, which frequently uses the abandoned nest of a 

 flicker. Light-colored down is used to cover the six to nine 

 ashy-gray eggs, which continue to incubate while the parent 

 is away. 



THE OLD SQUAW DUCK* 



Here is an instance where the female is the head of the 

 family indeed, for by common consent the name includes the 

 male of this species. It has numerous other names, how- 

 ever, as Old Wife, South-southerly, Long-tailed Duck, 

 Swallow-tailed Duck, Old Injun (]\Iassachusetts and Con- 

 necticut), Old Molly, Old Billy, Scolder (New Hampshire 

 and Massachusetts). 



The habitat of the Old Squaw is the northern hemisphere ; 

 in America, south in winter to nearly the southern border of 

 the L^^nited States. It is distributed throughout the north- 

 em portions of the globe, but makes its summer home in 

 Arctic regions. George Harlow Clarke, naturalist, Peary 

 polar expedition, in a recent article, mentioned that, " In 

 June the old squaw's clanging call resounded everywhere 

 along shore, and the birds themselves were often perceived 

 gliding to and fro amid the ice cakes drifting with the tide 

 between the main ice-floe and the land." It is a resident in 

 Greenland, and breeds in various places in Iceland. The 

 nests are made on the margins of lakes or ponds, among low 

 bushes or tall grass, are constructed of grasses, and gener- 

 ally, but not always, warmly lined with down and feathers. 

 The eggs are from six to twelve in number. In the L^nited 

 States the long-tail is found only in winter. Mr. Nelson 

 found it to be an abundant winter resident on Lake Michi- 



