Long-tailed Duck 127 
gave a series of grating calls. As the marauder came to the level of the water, the Long- 
tailed Duck with raised crest made a fierce rush of a few yards at it, and in this short space 
of time the second Skua swooped down, picked up a nestling and swallowed it alive, head 
first. The frantic mother then darted in the other direction, when the Skua that had first 
attacked nimbly picked up a duckling and swallowed it whilst mounting into the air. 
These Skuas, which are plentiful at Myvatn, must commit considerable havoc amongst 
the very young ducks, and doubtless constitute their chief enemies. Mr. Manniche, whom 
I had the pleasure of meeting in Denmark in 191 1, tells me that the Glaucous Gull is 
equally mischievous in destroying the young of Long-tails and King Eiders in East Green- 
land, and probably Buffon's Skua is another successful pirate. 
During the earlier stages of growth the young are kept by the mother in the sheltered 
waters, and there is no perceptible move for the coast until the middle of September, when 
the parties of females and young head down stream for the coast. Most of the males in 
parties leave early in September, and at the end of the month join up with adult females 
prior to migration. In Germany it is said that the old males join the family parties and 
arrive with them, but in the British Isles adults and immatures are clearly divided on 
arrival, the old birds going to certain firths and bays, and the young to other habitats. 
Only here and there do birds of different ages overlap and occupy the same winter ground. 
In the Baltic it is certain that large numbers of all ages are found together in winter, 
but this is due to forced conditions, resulting in curtailed feeding grounds. The general 
migration from the Arctic regions is somewhat governed by the season, whilst a certain 
number of Long-tailed Ducks always remain in Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, S. Labrador, 
and North-western Scandinavia, just below the ice limit. On the west coast of Norway 
Long-tailed Ducks are often abundant in late October, but as winter sets in these move 
down gradually to the milder waters of S. Norway, Denmark, and Holstein. 
Of the arrival, migrations, nesting habits, and departure of these ducks in the 
neighbourhood of Point Barrow, Alaska, we have an excellent account in the Report of the 
l7dernatio7tal Polar Expedition (p. 1 18). 
" This was one of our commonest ducks, though never appearing in great flights like the Eiders. 
They are first seen about the middle or end of May, and remain as long as there is any open water in the 
fall. The seal-hunters in 1882 reported seeing these birds as late as December 9th, in open holes in 
the ice-field. 
" Though the first ones arrive from the 15th to the 20th of May, they are not plenty till the first 
week in June, ahout which time there is a considerable flight, larger flocks passing up to the north-east in 
the afternoon or evening. 
" The flight-flocks are never so large as the flocks of Eiders, and always go very high, making a 
great clamour. They are exceedingly noisy all through the spring migrations and the breeding season. 
The native name ' Ahadlin ' is a capital imitation of their ordinary cry. 
" After this flight they are to be found in tolerable abundance in all the ponds and pools on the 
tundra which are free from ice. They appear to have paired before their arrival, and only seldom collect 
in small parties at some favourite feeding ground like the ' goose pond.' 
" During the breeding season each pair seems to adopt a pool for its own, and drive out all intruders. 
At this season they feed almost exclusively on vegetable food, and are fat and in excellent condition for 
food, with no fishy flavour. 
" They breed in considerable numbers all over the tundra, but the nests are scattered and not easy 
to find. The nest is always lined with down and generally near a pool. 
"As the open holes begin gradually to form at the outlets of the lagoons, and along the beach, the 
