356 CLANGULA HYEMALIS 



regions betaking itself to the melting tundra pools long before the sea ice has broken 

 up, almost the first to bring the glad news of the warmer season. With the King 

 Eider it shares the distinction of being the most northerly breeding of the whole 

 duck tribe. Many an anxious explorer has blessed this brave little wanderer, even 

 praised its strong and fishy meat; and if we but knew it, how many folk-lore tales 

 of the Eskimo must have been framed around it! 



Very distinct from all other ducks in appearance, structure, the sequence of its 

 moults, its habits and its curious voice, it is rightly placed in a genus by itself. It is 

 difficult to say what its nearest relatives may be. It has little in common with the 

 Eiders except in habits fostered by a common environment, but something perhaps 

 with the Harlequin. 



Wariness. Although a few writers have described this duck as wary or wild, 

 most of them have placed it where it belongs, among the least susceptible of educa- 

 tion. Its restless behavior may give the impression of wildness, but it seems to have 

 no eye for danger points. It will decoy readily to a flock of Scoter decoys close to 

 a boat and it has no fear of points or sand-spits during its daily wanderings. Most 

 marked of all is its absolute contempt for the roar of a shotgun. It has a good deal in 

 common with the Scoters in this respect. Continual disturbance does not appear to 

 bother them at all. A shotgun they scorn, sometimes decoying, as L. Lloyd (1867) 

 remarked, right in the smoke of a previous discharge, while I have often seen them 

 feeding happily up among wharves at the head of a busy harbor, where they were 

 disturbed every few moments. 



Millais (1913) and others have noticed that they grow wilder just before the time 

 of leaving in the spring but this has perhaps some connection with the onset of the 

 migration urge. They are not wild on their breeding grounds. 



Old-squaws are extremely reluctant to fly directly over a head-land, or even a 

 sand-bar; even in the heaviest gales they only rarely come in to sheltered fresh- 

 water ponds near the coast and if they do so they appear uncomfortable and restless 

 and soon depart, sometimes without even alighting. Shooters know how difficult it 

 is for them to change their course, once they have made up their minds. They seem 

 quite oblivious to what is going on around them and are not easily scared away by 

 movements on shore. 



They are not much afraid of a sail-boat either, and as they jump up-wind when 

 flushed, often coming up toward the advancing craft for a good distance before 

 sheering off, it is easy to get near them in this way. They pay little attention to ad- 

 vancing steamers and often cut across within half a gun-shot of their bows. 



Naturally it is easier to get among them in autumn and early winter when there 

 are many young birds, than it is later on. Some observers have found the females 

 shy on the nest and were never able to catch them sitting (Hesse, 1915). 



