WILD DUCKS OF THE BEAE EIYEE MARSHES, UTAH. 7 
and entirety different from the winter dress. This is known as 
the "eclipse" plumage and is found in all of the ducks that occur 
here except the ruddy duck. Soon after going into the eclipse 
plumage the drakes drop their wing and tail feathers, and then 
hide in the marsh growth until again able to fly. So well do they 
keep concealed that they are seldom seen, and few local sportsmen 
or others are acquainted with this peculiar habit, while persons 
who may tapper to see them usually consider them young birds 
because of their bare wings Ducks in this flightless condition are 
known as "flappers." In working through the marshes they may 
be heard quacking and feeding in every direction, and if one is 
startled it flaps off at a rapid rate and hides so well that it can not 
be found. At night they come out to feed in the bays and lakes, 
but retreat again to the shelter of the rushes at daybreak. Most 
female ducks are busied with their young during the period that 
the males are molting into the eclipse plumage, but soon after the 
ducklings can care for themselves, the females join the other ducks in 
the bays and in turn soon shed their flight feathers. (PI. II, fig. 2.) 
Most of the female ducks are later in their molt than the males, 
and in the case of birds whose first nest is destroyed so that they 
rear a second brood the molt may be delayed until late in summer 
or early in fall. Individuals late in molting may be found com- 
monly in the Bear River marshes through the month of September 
and many are still in this condition after the opening of the hunting 
season on October 1. 
In September the drakes begin to molt their body plumage again 
and come out in the bright-colored dress by which they are known 
in winter and spring. Sportsmen often ask why more old drakes 
are not shot at the beginning of the hunting season. The apparent 
lack of old males is due to the fact that they are confused with the 
immature birds from their piebald, patchy appearance as they change 
from the eclipse dress into full plumage. Adult female ducks, 
especially of pintails and green-winged teals, killed during the first 
half of October, nearly always have many pin feathers coming in on 
the body, due to their late molt as compared with the drakes. This 
fact is often remarked by the duck pickers who pluck the thousands 
of 'birds brought in to the gun clubs, and has been verified by the 
writer from personal observation of many hundreds of ducks. 
From the foregoing it may be seen that while the delta of Bear 
River furnishes a breeding ground for many waterfowl, it is of 
even greater importance as a refuge during their annual molt to 
other individuals that have nested at unknown distances from the 
marsh. The drakes begin to come in for this purpose early in the 
season, the male pintails being the first to make their appearance in 
numbers. On June 1±. 1915, a flock of 500 was found at the upper 
