340 BUCEPHALA ALBEOLA 



preening the feathers of the lower parts. These preening postures become more fre- 

 quent in the spring, as they probably do in all the ducks, and some of them, it has 

 been suggested, may be connected with the down-plucking and nest-building stimulus. 

 The old males in their showy winter dress give the impression of floating very 

 lightly on the water, more so than the females, but doubtless this is merely an optical 

 effect. It is easy, as I said before, to mistake females and young for Golden-eyes at 

 long ranges, but the white head-streak and small size (especially as compared with 

 other ducks) will usually tell the tale. 



Diving. They dive with grebe-like speed and rely on this method of avoiding 

 danger more often than do the Golden-eyes. Sometimes it suits their fancy to make 

 a little jump before turning head foremost into the water, perhaps in this way saving 

 themselves an extra push with their feet. So far as I can remember they seldom feed 

 except in waters of moderate depth, three or four to ten or a dozen feet being best 

 suited to their needs. Alford (1920) who timed them on the Pacific coast, found that 

 in about a fathom of water the dives averaged from twenty-one to twenty-six sec- 

 onds in length. The longest lasted only twenty-nine seconds and the shortest four- 

 teen, while the period between dives was five to eight seconds in duration. C. W. 

 Townsend's (1916) observations in Charles River Basin at Boston and in the Lynn 

 Bay showed even shorter dives, from fourteen to twenty seconds. 



The wings in healthy birds are not used as a means of propulsion under water, as 

 has been stated by some writers. Wounded birds will of course use any method of 

 escaping. 



Flight. Like Teal, Buffle-heads fly low and in irregular little flocks, alighting 

 daintily on the water and leaving it in a manner very cleanly cut for a diving duck. 

 No doubt their speed when on the wing has been greatly overestimated, for some have 

 thought them faster fliers than the Golden-eye. A couple, whose progress was noted 

 along the route of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, were rapidly overtaken by an ex- 

 press train and their actual speed estimated at not over thirty-six miles an hour 

 (H. L. Clark, 1893). 



Family parties on migration most frequently consist of two or three to six or eight 

 individuals, and seldom exceed a dozen in number. On the feeding grounds in winter 

 they break up and scatter all over the bays or sounds, exactly in the manner of 

 Golden-eyes. Scarcely ever do they congregate in large packs. There is no wing- 

 whistle corresponding to that heard in the Golden-eyes. 



Association with other Species. The Buffle-head is fully as independent as 

 the Golden-eyes and seldom mixes with other ducks during migration. On the At- 

 lantic coast they scatter out among great rafts of Scaup, little groups of Golden-eyes 



