British Diving Ducks 
whole winter, yet their numbers increased enormously in the spring ; countless hosts covering many acres 
could be seen swimming on the sea, one quarter to half a mile from the coast in April. And towards the 
end of this month their numbers noticeably decreased. April 20, May 2, 4, and 5, still fewer were to be 
seen, and on May 8 only half a dozen male and female were to be seen ; on May 10, again great flights 
were seen, and by about May 25 all had vanished." 
Habits. — The general habits of this duck are somewhat similar to the other Eiders, 
except that they are much shyer in disposition and less amenable to consort with other 
species. They are very gregarious in winter and fly swiftly and dive with all the skill 
of the other members of the genus. They move about in large flocks, and even single pairs 
will not consort with Eiders or King-Eiders. Stejneger found that, except the Golden-Eye, 
they were the shyest of all duck found on Bering Island. The adult males generally kept 
apart from the females and young males, and were found in long straggling groups further 
out to sea. 
They feed on fish spawn, young fish, crabs, and possibly on vegetable growths, 
but principally on conchylia and mussels. These they obtain by diving, and their favourite 
resorts are mussel-banks lying at the same depths as those frequented by Eiders and 
Long-tailed Ducks. 
Professor Collett tells us that the food consists chiefly of molluscs and Crustacea, and 
has found in stomachs of specimens killed in Finmark the following species : Litorina 
palliata, Lacuna vincta, Trophon truncatus, Margarita helicina, Pleustes panopla, 
A nonyx lagena, Podocerus anguipes, Buccinum groenlandicum, A nonyx gularis, Gam- 
marus, and species of A mphithce, Margarita groenlandica. 
Of their arrival and departure in N.W. America, we have the report of the Expedition 
to Point Barrow, Alaska, Wash., 1885, which says : 
" Though not common in the sense that the King-ducks and Pacific-Eiders are common, this 
beautiful little duck is far from a rare bird during the late spring and summer at Point Barrow and 
in the vicinity. 
" The breeding ground, however, appears to be some distance off. Early in June they are to be 
found at the * leads ' of open water at some distance from the shore, and perhaps the majority of them 
pass on in this way to their breeding grounds. From the middle to the end of June they appear on land 
in small parties scattered over the tundra. 
"At this time they are in full breeding plumage, and the males are generally in excess in the 
flocks. They are generally to be found in small ' pond-holes,' frequently sitting on the bank asleep, 
and are very tame, easily approached within gunshot, and generally swimming together when alarmed, 
before taking wing, so that several can be secured at one discharge. I have stopped a whole flock 
of five with a single shot. 
" They appear to go off to breed about the end of June, although it is possible that the birds 
we have on the tundra are non-breeding birds. 
" Birds, however, that have bred, judging from the looks of the ovaries, begin to come back 
from the first to the middle of July, appearing especially at Pergniak and flying in small parties 
up and down the coast. They generally keep to themselves, but are sometimes found associating 
with small parties of King-ducks. 
" When the open water forms alongshore — that is, in the latter part of July and early part of August — 
they are to be found in large flocks along the beach, collecting in ' beds ' at a safe distance from the 
shore, feeding on marine invertebrates, especially on gephryean worms. These flocks consist almost 
exclusively of moulting females, whose ovaries show that they have bred. The males appear to undergo 
a full change of plumage like the other Eiders, gradually putting on the brown dress of the females. 
We were, however, unable to secure any specimens to illustrate this change. 
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