THE AMERICAN EIDER 383 
wary than the average gunner would suppose 
to see them come to decoys, for this they do 
readily, a single bird or a small flock being al- 
most sure to come in if they see the ‘‘tolers.’’ 
The larger flocks are less likely to notice de- 
coys—a general rule with all ducks. 
These birds arrive in New England waters 
about December first, and have nearly always 
gone north again by the middle of March or the 
first of April at latest, varying their movements 
as the season is mild or severe. 
The Sea Duck is a powerfully made fowl, 
about twenty-four inches long and in extent 
some forty inches. The males will average to 
weigh between five and six pounds; the females 
a pound less. The male in full plumage is a 
remarkably showy bird, the contrasting effects 
of his snowy white and jet black plumage in 
broad areas being very striking. His head is 
black on the crown and sides down through the 
eyes and back to the base of the skull, with a 
thin strip of white running over the centre of 
the hind head and narrowing to a point on the 
crown. The cheeks, throat, neck, back, upper 
coverts and drooping plumes of the wings, the 
upper breast, also a spot on each side of the 
