BIRDS. 77 



Tliey fly. in small compact flocks, rarely exceeding fifty birds in a flock, and skim close along 

 the surface of the ice or marsh with a flight very similar to that of other heavy-bodied sea-ducks. 

 Very soon after reaching their destination the flocks disband and the birds quietly pair, but the 

 first eggs are rarely laid earlier than the first days of June. 



Most of my eggs were taken fresh between the 10th and 20th of this month, and I obtained 

 the young just out of the egg on July 23. The middle of August young birds are frequently seen 

 from a few days old to those nearly ready to take wing. During this month the adult birds pass 

 through the summer moult, and with the half-grown young desert the marshes and tide-creeks for 

 the sea-coast and outlying rocky islands. 



By September 1 scarcely a single individual can be found on the marshes, and by the 20th they 

 are scarce along the coast. 



Their food in summer consists of small Crustacea, grass, seeds, and such other food as the 

 brackish pools afford. 



When first paired the birds choose a pond on the marsh, and are thenceforth found in its vicin- 

 ity until the young are hatched. Their love-making is very quiet. I have never heard any note 

 uttered except by the female while conducting her brood out of danger. As the grass commences 

 to show green and the snow and ice are nearly gone, although the other denizens of the marsh are 

 already well along in their housekeeping, these ducks choose some dry, grassy spot close to the 

 poud, and making a slight hollow with a warm lining of grass, they commence the duties of the 

 season. 



One nest found on June 15 was on a bed of dry grass within a foot of the water on the border 

 of the pond, and when the female flew off the single egg could be seen 20 yards away. Tus- 

 socks of dry grass, small islands in ponds, and knolls close to the water's edge are all chosen as 

 nesting places, and as a rule the nest is well concealed by the dry grass standing about. If the 

 nest contains but one or two eggs the female usually flies off and remains until the intruder is 

 gone; but if the set is nearly completed or incubation is begun she will soon return, frequently 

 accompanied by the male, and both circle about, showing the greatest uneasiness. The female will 

 sometimes alight in the pond, within easy range, and both parents may be obtained by watching 

 near the nest. The male is rarely seen after the young are hatched, biit the female shows the 

 greatest courage in guarding her brood, as the following incident will show: A brood was swim- 

 ming away from me, and the female tried to protect them by keeping between the young and 

 myself. I fired two charges of No. 12 shot, killing all the young, yet, in spite of the fact that 

 the parent received a large share of the charge each time, she refused to fly, and kept trying to urge 

 her dead offspring to move on, until a charge of larger shot mercifully stretched her among her off- 

 spring. Upon removing the skin her back was found to be filled with fine shot, and her desperate 

 courage in defense of her brood shows the strength of i)arental feeling. Other similar instances 

 attest the courage and devotion of this species. 



The eggs usually number from five to eight or nine in a set and are small for the size of the bird. 

 Extremes measure 2.82 by 1.81, 2.60 by 1.87. In color they are of a light olive drab. 



During August the fall moult takes place, and the males assume a plumage much like that of 

 the female. 



The iris and pupil of these ducks are very small, with a broad ring of bright milky blue sur- 

 rounding the iris ; to a casual observer this blue ring appears to be the iris. The spring male 

 has the eye as just described, the feet and legs dull olive brown, except scales on front of tarsus 

 and toes, which are dingy yellowish. The bill is dull orange. The bill of the female is dull blue, 

 feet and tarsi dull yellowish brown. 



The young of the year in fall have eyes like the adults ; dark olive-brown bills, with dull yel- 

 lowish, shaded with olive-brown, legs and feet. The males and females are very nearly of the 

 same size, and average from 20 to 22.5 inches in length by 34 to 36.5 inches in spread of wing. They 

 are heavily built, like all Eiders ; they are considerably smaller than the Pacific Eider, but as much 

 larger than Steller's Duck, which latter has more the build and shape of a Gadwall, and is the 

 least clumsy of its kind. The Spectacled Eider is so restricted in its range and so local in its dis- 

 tribution, even where it occurs, that, like the Labrador Duck and the Great Auk, it may readily be 

 so reduced in numbers as to become a comparatively rare bird. A species limited in the breeding 



