BUFFLE-HEAD 339 



Wariness. Stupid by nature in spite of its quickness and vivacity, this duck has 

 a curious habit of coming back many times and flying around a pond or marsh pool 

 from which it has many times been disturbed, and where it may constantly have 

 heard the sound of guns. If it is shot at on the water without warning it will almost 

 always dive, and its quickness in diving response has given it many local names. In 

 former days, as many older writers noticed, the boy with the flint-lock or even with 

 the percussion-cap gun was no match for them at all, and the Indians of our coast 

 thought of them as bearing a charmed life and called them "Spirit Ducks." Now, 

 of course, since the speeding-up of powder and shot, as well as everything else in this 

 anxious world, the reaction time of the Buffle-head is far too slow to save it on the 

 water. If it were not for its poor flesh, small size, and the broad waters of its winter- 

 ing grounds it would long ago have been greatly depleted. But many sportsmen 

 spare it, as they should, preferring to save their ammunition for more valuable game. 



Although so tame and confiding at almost any time of year, Harper (MS.) 

 noticed that the young of both this and the Golden-eye tend to remain in open water 

 in the face of danger, instead of betaking themselves to the cover of the marsh as 

 most of the other ducklings of the Athabasca region did. 



It is provided, too, with an exaggerated bump of curiosity, and single birds or 

 little families will nearly always come near shore to investigate a flock of Mallard 

 decoy ducks. 



Daily Movements. The Buffle-head's restless behavior marks it as a day- 

 feeder. It puts its trust in larger bodies of water during the night, and when on mi- 

 gration it comes to our lakes somewhat late in the morning, like the Golden-eyes, 

 and very seldom at the first streak of dawn. It seems to have a strong aversion to a 

 strange lake, unless it can see what it is about. 



Gait and Posture. It is seldom indeed that one sees Buffle-heads on shore. Oc- 

 casionally they "haul out" on the edge of the ice, standing in an erect and upright 

 position. Toward spring I have sometimes seen them standing on a point of marsh 

 left bare by the tide. Nearly all the diving ducks, especially Scaup, Golden-eyes and 

 even Eiders, crawl out of the water more often in late winter and spring than they do 

 on first arriving from the north in autumn. Perhaps this is partly due to their being 

 less disturbed in spring, but partly, too, I think it has some connection with the onset 

 of the breeding instinct and the associated preening habits. 



The posture in swimming is very similar to that of the Golden-eyes. In fact, on a 

 misty morning when distances are hard to estimate and objects loom large, I find 

 myself continually mistaking these little ducks for their much larger relatives. Like 

 the Golden-eyes they are fond of turning over on their sides and scratching their 

 heads with their feet. Often they turn almost completely over on their backs while 



