TACHYERES CINEREUS 113 



undisturbed in the water they swim quietly along, producing 

 two peculiar notes — that of the male being a sort of mew rapidly 

 repeated, while that of the female is a kind of deep growl — and 

 diligently searching the fronds of the kelp for the animals to be 

 found thereon, or diving for mussels, which appear to be one of 

 their staple articles of diet, as I always found fragments of the 

 shells in the stomachs of those I examined. The stomach is a 

 most powerful organ, with very thick muscular coats, and the 

 lower part of the windpipe or trachea of the male possesses an 

 enlargement of considerable size. . . . When alarmed at the 

 prospect of impending danger, they lose no time in getting up 

 steam, paddling through the water at a marvellous rate by dint 

 of flapping their little wings, the motion of which is so excessively 

 rapid, that it is difficult to convince oneself that they are not 

 revolving, leaving a long wake of foam like that produced by a 

 miniature steamer behind them, and not ceasing this method of 

 progression till a safe distance has intervened between them and 

 the object of their dread. They often assist their escape, in 

 addition, by diving, and coming up to the surface at a distance 

 of many j^ards in a direction upon which it is impossible to 

 calculate, when they show their heads for a moment, and then 

 repeat the manoeuvre." 



As regards the size and weight of the Steamer Duck, there 

 is great divergence of opinion. 



Pernety states : — " Chacun de ces Canards pese ordinairement 

 de 19 a 20 livres au moins." 



At Staten Island, Cook mentions : — " We shot some, and found 

 them to weigh twenty-nine or thirty pounds; those who eat of 

 them said they were very good." 



" It is a gigantic Duck, the largest I have met with," 

 observes King in Eagle Bay in 1827. *' It moves with astonish- 

 ing velocity. It would not be an exaggeration to state its speed 

 at from twelve to fifteen miles an hour. The largest we found 

 measured forty inches from the extremity of the bill, to that of 

 the tail, and weighed thirteen pounds. ... It is very difficult 

 to kill them, on account of their wariness and thick coat of 



16 * 



