308 BUCEPHALA CLAN GU LA 



ness was brought to my attention in November, 1922. I shot both barrels of a 12- 

 gauge gun at a Black Duck from my "stand" while a flock of eleven Golden -eyes 

 (immatures) was swimming not more than 150 yards away. Not one of them flew! 

 Yet I have been astonished hundreds of times at the sagacity of old male birds in 

 their instant response to such a noise as driving a tack with a hammer when they 

 were so far off that I could hardly believe the sound was audible to them. All New 

 England shooters know the difficulty of making a really good bag of Golden-eyes, for 

 even where they are really numerous and their feeding grounds are much restricted 

 by ice it is indeed seldom that we see more than ten or a dozen accounted for by a 

 single shooter on one tide, but these, of course, are well-oriented birds on their regular 

 wintering grounds. Their behavior when being approached by a punt in Ireland is 

 well described by Payne-Gallwey (1882) who says that they are scarcely ever shot in 

 this manner. 



Abel Chapman (1889) tells how easy it may be to drive Golden-eyes toward a 

 concealed shooter on lakes in northern England and he noticed that such birds 

 (young in autumn) would continue to circle around a pond after they had been shot 

 at and even to pitch among their defunct companions! He contrasted such indi- 

 viduals with the wily flocks that are absolutely unapproachable off the coast. 



As Millais noted, Golden-eyes are singularly lacking in sagacity when "on feed" 

 near shore (although old birds usually avoid a shore with cover) for considerable 

 flocks often dive in unison, giving one plenty of time to run down upon them and 

 take them when they rise. Although they make an extraordinary "get-away" the 

 second they reach the surface, I never saw any evidence of their detecting a shoot- 

 er's movements, no matter how rapid or noisy, while they were under water. An 

 ability for detecting danger while under water has been accorded them by several 

 writers, but I doubt any such faculty. 



So long ago as 1653, Baldner, the "fowler of Strassbourg," remarked that "there 

 are not so many as ducks [Mallards] catched, therefore they wax older and their 

 meat is tough." In another place he enlarges on the difficulties in shooting them. 



Daily Movements. One of the most, if not the most, restless of all ducks they 

 seem like the Pintail to be continually on the move wherever they are found. Seldom 

 does one see them resting comfortably and drifting about like Scaups, Red-heads or 

 Ruddies. They are continually hurrying up and down channels all day long whether 

 disturbed or not. Probably this excessive activity throughout the day is due to 

 their being largely day -feeders. They are extremely timid about spending the night 

 on inland lakes or enclosed waters and will almost always flight to the open ocean 

 or a large bay just before dusk with clocklike regularity, coming back at day-break 

 or often later. I have noticed this so often in our fresh waters near the coast that I 

 am inclined to think it is almost a rule of the species sometimes broken, however, 



