STEAMER DUCK 297 



it is not much hunted and is difficult to get. Nicoll (1908) says it is decreasing in the 

 Straits, but is still plentiful, especially in the western parts. He did not attribute 

 this to the presence of man. On the Falklands where it is little hunted it is still ex- 

 ceedingly numerous, though some egg-robbing goes on there. It is probable, that as 

 time goes on, and fast motor-boats become a common means of locomotion, this 

 duck may be persecuted and even extirpated near settlements. 



Enemies. There is little evidence on this point, but Beck (MS.) saw a Caracara 

 Eagle break three out of a clutch of four eggs in the Straits. 



Damage. None. 



Food Value. Cunningham (1868) describes the flesh as tough, coarse and ter- 

 ribly fishy. Certainly no travelers ever eat it if they can get anything else. The 

 eggs, on the other hand, are considered a great delicacy and are, to some extent, 

 collected in the Falklands (Abbott, 1861; Crawshay, 1907). 



Hunt. Where the Steamer Duck is wary, as in the Straits, it is very difficult to 

 get them. About all one can do is to wear them out by pursuing them or by corner- 

 ing them in some small cove. On account of their size and toughness they require 

 heavy shot. Mr. R. H. Beck's field notes made on his collecting trips to the coasts 

 of Chile and in the Straits contain many references to the pursuit of these birds. 

 He usually managed to follow them up in a motor-boat and gradually tire them out. 

 It was even possible to get the flying kind in this way. On being pursued this duck, 

 of course, dives or "steams" over the water but when tired out it dives and comes 

 up with body submerged and head close to the water. 



A few were shot by simply "staying with them" until they miscalculate or the 

 shooter calculates their position correctly under water so as to shoot them immedi- 

 ately the head appears. One day at Ancud Mr. Beck got eleven small flying Steamer 

 Ducks in this way. On another day he notes that by hard hunting he got eighteen, 

 missing and hitting a number, while others dove and got away. In the Falklands it is 

 still easy to shoot as many as one wants, even without a launch, by hunting along 

 the shores. 



Behavior est Captivity. In 1861 and again in 1882 the London Zoological Gar- 

 dens received a specimen of this duck (P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1861, 

 p. 367, and 1882, p. 792). In 1888 a pair was received (Hubbard, 1907). Nothing 

 has been recorded of their behavior in confinement, but P. C. Mitchell (1911) reports 

 one as having lived fifteen months. 



Hybrids. None. 



