196
Lake Umbagog.
Osgood's Point.
1898.
August 28
(No 3)
  I had several opportunities for watching the thrashing
performance closely and I am satisfied that on this
occasion at least, it was not performed, as has
been suggested, for the purpose of driving fish in
shore. The birds did not first arrange themselves
in a semicircle as had been described (in Forest
& Stream) nor did they move towards the shore
while beating their wings. On the contrary they
simply kept on their way (once in single file), first
beating their wings and then just ducking under for 
a moment at the end of the "thrashing". The
whole thing seemed to me to be done in sheer
sport. Black Ducks indulge themselves in much
the same way but less frequently.
[margin]Merganser
americanus[/margin]
  When diving for fish the Sheldrake often
sprang forward quite out of water and arching 
their backs cleft the surface so deftly as to leave
scarce a ripple. Their dives were usually short
and invariably made in the general direction 
in which the flock was moving. That is to say 
they never turned back but occasionally a
bird would come out a little way out from
shore where it would at once paddle hurriedly
in to join its comrades.
  At length the flock reached us and rounded the
point within three feet of the shore and not
over six feet  where we were sitting! Yet
as far as we could make out not a bird discovered
us or were suspected the presence of danger. There
were just twelve of them and for a moment or
two a blanket would have covered them all.