The Old-Squaw 



OLD-SQUAWS 



Says Mr. E. W. Nelson : "During all the spring season until the young 

 begin to hatch the males have a rich musical note, frequently repeated in 

 deep, reed-like tones. Amid the general hoarse chorus of waterfowl which 

 is heard at this season, the notes of the Old-squaw are so harmonious that 

 the fur traders of the upper Yukon have christened him the Organ Duck, 

 a well-merited name. I have frequently stopped and listened with deep 

 pleasure to these harmonious tones, while traversing the broad marshes 

 in the dim twilight at midnight, and while passing a lonely month on the 

 dreary banks of the Yukon delta, I lay in my blankets many hours at 

 night and listened to these rhythmical sounds, which with few exceptions 

 were the only ones to break the silence." 



These notes, however, are not at all confined to the spring of the 

 year, for they are used to express uneasiness at the presence of the hunter, 

 as readily as ardor in love. If one has hostile intentions, it is easy to single 

 out a chorus and row toward it, even though the birds are unseen. When 

 seated upon the water these birds exhibit much white, and under certain 

 weather conditions are not easily seen even at close quarters. It is useless 

 to seek them as game, however, for they are expert divers, and as a con- 

 sequence rank animal feeders. 



1824 



