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ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



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CANVAS-BACK DUCKS ON THE WING 



STORM-BOUND DUCKS 



Wild ducks wintering at Branchport. New York 



By C. William Beebe and Verdi Burtch 



THE past winter has been one of unusual 

 severity on the bird and animal life of our 

 northern states. It is difficult enough for 

 the wild creatures to wage their never-ending 

 warfare against living foes and especially man, 

 but when to these a sudden onslaught of storm 

 or cold is added, they have small chance of 

 survival. At such a time the birds and animals 

 of prey are correspondingly hard pressed to find 

 food, and the storm-bound victims can expect 

 from their enemies only increased energy in 

 pursuit and capture. 



Under such conditions, man should not only 

 entirely curb his hunting and sporting pro- 

 clivities, but he should do dynamic work in help- 

 ing the weakened creatures to tide over the 

 period of danger. 



During the past month the Zoological Society 

 has received several canvas-back ducks that were 

 picked up in a starving condition, and it was 

 learned that in many parts of New York State 

 ducks by the hundred were brought to starvation 

 by the continual frozen condition of their feed- 

 ing waters. It is most gratifying to learn that 

 in a number of instances, large numbers of 

 wild-fowl were saved by systematic feeding, both 

 on the part of game wardens and private indi- 

 viduals. It is also a matter for sincere congratu- 

 lation that, owing to the recently inaugurated 

 law preventing the shooting of ducks in late 

 winter and spring, untold numbers of these birds 

 were saved from death at the hands of persons 

 to whom sympathy for any wild creature is an 

 unknown characteristic. Mr. Verdi Burtch has 



most kindly sent me the following notes and 

 photographs relating to the ducks which win- 

 tered near his home at Branchport. This is in 

 west central New York, just west of Seneca 

 Lake. I give the notes in full, as they present 

 so vividly the struggle for life which these 

 splendid birds wage day after day against the 

 elements. 



At the head of Lake Keuka, near Branchport, 

 is a sandbar formed by the inlet on the north 

 and a big gully on the west, which cuts off the 

 harbor from the remainder of the lake. A 

 channel one hundred and fifty feet wide has been 

 cut through this bar to admit boats to the harbor. 

 This channel never entirely freezes over, even in 

 the most severe winters like the one just past, 

 owing to an ever present current flowing from 

 the lake into the bay and back again. 



After the lake had frozen over this winter, 

 ducks gather in the channel to the number of 

 several hundred. About one-half were canvas- 

 backs, while the remainder was about equally 

 divided between American golden-eyes and 

 American scaup, with a lone butterball and a few 

 redheads. 



I first visited the channel on February 12, at 

 which time they were all able to fly. As I ap- 

 proached, the canvas-backs arose first, then the 

 golden-eyes and then the scaups, a portion of 

 the latter, however, flying only to the other side. 

 All the scaups and some of the golden-eyes and 

 canvas-backs returned and alighted in the water, 

 while the remainder settled on the ice, well out in 

 the middle of the lake. 



A female canvas-back, after circling a few 

 times, became exhausted and fell to the ice, but 

 struggled along until she reached the water. 

 Twelve black ducks were there on February 16, 

 and a few redheads on the 17th. 



JU 



EXHAUSTED CANVAS-BACK 

 Struggling to reach the water 



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