The Ruddy Duck 



While I had no doubt that the behavior detailed above was a part of 

 the "breeding cycle," it was a privilege to witness a repetition of the per- 

 formance with the stage more fully set, as I did on May 9th, 1914, from a 

 hidden vantage point overlooking Laguna Blanca. A male, very much 

 aroused, was trying to entertain two females, and he seemed to be quite 

 impartial in his treatment of them. His ordinary and frequently repeated 

 act was a rapid rehearsal of the series described above, i. e., the successive 

 depression of the head, culminating in the suddenly outstretched neck and 

 the cheliib cry, but each successive series did not occupy above one second 



Taken in San Francisco 



RUDDY DRAKE 



Photo by the Author 



in performance. This passionate exercise was varied by an occasional os- 

 tentatious flight of about six feet, during which the bird emitted a xylo- 

 phonic, rolling or clucking note, very much like the sound made by a 

 distant woodpecker on a dry limb. During this excitement, also, the fel- 

 low reared black crests over his eyes to the height of half an inch or so. 

 Whether this was accomplished by a local inflation of the skin, or by a 

 muscular puckering and humping of the integument, one could not tell; 

 but he looked so like a huge bullfrog in feathers, that I nearly laughed out. 

 At the approach of another male, our hero charged valiantly, whereupon 

 the intruder dived, and was pursued furiously under water. Naturally, a 

 gallant who was about to capture two hearts at a stroke would resent 

 interruption. 



1843 



