44 



THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



in great numbers. They are one of the most beautiful of the North 

 American ducks. As we had not seen them fly into the open water they 

 must have swum in from the Lesser-Scaups that were out farther in the lake. 

 I started to purr, mimicking the peculiar call of the Lesser-Scaups. 

 The birds farther out in the lake slowly swam towards our decoys. Now 

 already we had over one hundred and fifty ducks not over sixty yards away. 

 Slowly the Blue-Bills came in from the Lake. About twenty birds rose 

 from the water and flew in and settled down near the large bunch of Old- 

 Squaws. Soon the other Scaups were within fifty yards of us. Among 

 them I noticed some Golden-eyes and Hooded Mergansers. Ten Canvas- 

 backs came in from the north, made two large circles over the birds in front 

 of us and turned and flew out into the lake and were lost in the distance. 

 Turning in another direction I noticed four ducks coming in from the 

 south. They flew over within fifteen feet of our heads and alighted with 

 a terrific splash. They were Red-breasted Mergansers. We waited until 

 four o'clock and then began to sack our decOys. As we rose from our ice 

 shelter the ducks flew in all directions, probably surprised that they had 

 not been scattered with a volley from a shotgun. We observers both re- 

 gretted that we did not have a camera with us. 



Today there are ornithologists 

 in Chicago who look out over the 

 vast stretches of ice on Lake 

 Michigan without knowing what 

 prizes lie there on the open water 

 beyond. I enjoy watching these 

 birds and have spent the entire 

 day watching ducks in Florida at 

 a distance of only ten feet and 

 have mastered their calls to very 

 good advantage. These birds to- 

 day on Lake Michigan are feed- 

 ing on minnows and small perch; 

 the large American Mergansers 

 feeding mainly on perch. The 

 Old-Squaws are very ardent div- 

 ers and are extremely graceful 

 on the water. They resemble 

 the Pintails in that both species 

 have the elongated tail feathers. 

 Among my observations made 

 during the month of January I 

 prise it flew out of a hollow tree st\ib. I watched it for some time and 

 might report that I found a Flicker on the 11th of January. To my sur- 

 found it returned again to the hollow stub. This was probably its only 

 source for obtaining food. On the 16th I flushed a Meadowdark which 

 came from a large and dense patch of sweet clover. I followed this bird 

 from tree to fence post and it at length returned to the sweet clover patch. 

 This seemed to be the bird's only shelter. I frequently visit during the 

 winter months a deserted farm near Oak Park to watch the birds that 

 seem to know they can spend the winter months here without being 

 molested. A Hairy Woodpecker stays here and profits by the enormous 



Photo by F. N. Whitman 



NUTHATCH 



