326 University of California^ Puhlications in Zoology [Vol. 24 



In late Aiigust and September, when the salmon ran was drawing 

 to a close, many gulls were seen along the rivers. None was collected, 

 but the birds observed were mostly of some species larger than 

 hrachyrhyncMis. 



Mergus americanus Cassin. American Merganser 



Breeding in Kispiox Valley; adults occasionally flushed from 

 streams and sloughs, and several broods of young encountered. On 

 June 28 a female with eleven ducklings appeared in the swift-flowing 

 creek by our camp, the young still mostly down-covered. 



Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus. Mallard 



Breeding in Kispiox Valley. A nest with eggs was reported by an 

 acquaintance, found about the middle of June in a hayfield. We saw 

 single birds at various times during June and July. Toward the 

 end of August there was an jnflux of migrating ducks, a large propor- 

 tion of them mallards, and flocks of forty, fifty, or a hundred were 

 seen daily on gravel bars in the Kispiox River. Here the ducks were 

 feeding on salmon roe. Mallard and green-winged teal were the only 

 species present in numbers, and individuals of each of these shot from 

 time to time invariably contained salmon eggs in their gullets. The 

 humpback salmon (Oncorhynckus gorhuscha) , the species 'running' 

 at that time, was present in myriads, and the ducks formed but a 

 fraction of the animals that were preying upon fish or eggs. 



Two adult males partly in the eclipse plumage were shot on Sep- 

 tember 10, and one (no. 4.1988) was preserved. In this bird the 

 chestnut breast and gray underparts of the winter plumage are mostly 

 acquired, while of the eclipse plumage there remain the brown- 

 streaked head and neck, many brown feathers on back and flanks, and 

 the tail feathers. An adult male (no. -42638) taken at Okanagan 

 Landing, British Columbia, on October 1, is not nearly so far advanced 

 in the molt, having but a few scattered new feathers over various parts 

 of the head and body. 



Mareca americana (Gmelin). Baldpate 

 One Avas shot on the Bulkley River at Hazelton, September 17. 



