30
Back Bay Basin, 
Boston, Mass.
1909.
Feb. 27
(No. 30)
were distinguishable from the females to which they
were paying attentions only by their much larger size
and by the presence of a few white feathers among
thin scapulars and on their heads. Yet they posed & bleated
to her quite as ardently as did the older drakes
seeming, indeed, to have already mastered all the
arts and graces of Whistlers courtship.
Whistler courtship
Immature drakes pose & bleat
  When not absorbed in watching the courting birds
I paid some other closer attention to those which were
diving for food. As far as I could see (and they
were very near me at times) their wings were always
kept tightly closed or folded as long as they remained
in sight. Their tails were invariably spread to the
utmost possible width just as they disappeared. As
a rule the downward plunge was made without without
much apparent effort, the bird simply immersing its
Diving with closed wings