WILD DUCKS OF THE BEAR RIVER MARSHES, UTAH. 7 



and entirely different from the winter dress. This is known as 

 the " eclipse " plumage and is found in all of the ducks that occur 

 here except the ruddy duck. Soon after going into the eclipse 

 plumage the drakes drop their wing and tail feathers, and then 

 hide in the marsh growth until again able to fly. So well do they 

 keep concealed that they are seldom seen, and few local sportsmen 

 or others are acquainted with this peculiar habit, while persons 

 who may happer to see them usually consider them young birds 

 because of their bare wings Ducks in this flightless condition are 

 known as "flappers." In working through the marshes they may 

 be heard quacking and feeding in every direction, and if one is 

 startled it flaps off at a rapid rate and hides so well that it can not 

 be found. At night they come out to feed in the bays and lakes, 

 but retreat again to the shelter of the rushes at daybreak. Most 

 female ducks are busied with their young during the period that 

 the males are molting into the eclipse plumage, but soon after the 

 ducklings can care for themselves, the females join the other ducks in 

 the bays and in turn soon shed their flight feathers. (PI. II, fig. 2.) 

 Most of the female ducks are later in their molt than the males, 

 and in the case of birds whose first nest is destroyed so that they 

 rear a second brood the molt may be delayed until late in summer 

 or early in fall. Individuals late in molting may be fpund com- 

 monly in the Bear River marshes through the month of September 

 and many are still in this condition after the opening of the hunting 

 season on October 1. 



In September the drakes begin to molt their body plumage again 

 and come out in the bright-colored dress by which they are known 

 in winter and spring. Sportsmen often ask why more old drakes 

 are not shot at the beginning of the hunting season. The apparent 

 lack of old males is due to the fact that they are confused with the 

 immature birds from their piebald, patchy appearance as they change 

 from the eclipse dress into full plumage. Adult female ducks, 

 especially of pintails and green-winged teals, killed during the first 

 half of October, nearly always have many pin feathers coming in on 

 the body, due to their late molt as compared with the drakes. This 

 fact is often remarked by the duck pickers who pluck the thousands 

 of birds brought in to the gun clubs, and has been verified by the 

 writer from personal observation of many hundreds of ducks. 



From the foregoing it may be seen that while the delta of Bear 

 River furnishes a breeding ground for many waterfowl, it is of 

 even greater importance as a refuge during their annual molt to 

 other individuals that have nested at unknown distances from the 

 marsh. The drakes begin to come in for this purpose early in the 

 season, the male pintails being the first to make their appearance in 

 numbers. On June 14, 1915, a flock of 500 was found at the upper 



