Jan., 1911 
COURTSHIP OF TIIF: AMP:rICAX ('tOLDEX-KYE 
29 
markable. I wonder if it continues to be absent later in the sea.son when sexual 
intercourse is near at hand. 
The more elaborate of the ceremonials of courtship above de.scribed were 
seldom if ever performed this moriiing by solitary males, even when accompanied 
by females, nor did they occur wlien females were absent or far removed. Indeed 
I witne.ssed them only when at least two or three, oftener four or five, and some- 
times as many as nine drakes were in rather close association with one or more 
females. Often the males would collect about a female in a rather scattered group 
and entertain her for minutes at a time by their grotescpie actions and peculiar love 
calls. Whenever this happened the female remained, for the most part, compara- 
tively inactive and apparently quite indifferent to the attentions of her showy ad- 
mirers, although she might occasionally single out and obviously encourage one of 
them by approaching him closely and bobbing her head up and down a few times. 
To this salutation he would immediately respond by a corresponding action before 
beginning his more elaborate performances again. Sometimes the female w'ould 
suddenly assume the crouching posture which would be instantly imitated by one or 
more of the males. Once I saw a bird wdiich was unquestionably a female, first nod, 
next crouch, and then take the bowsprit pose! This behaviour on her part created 
intense excitement among the attendant drakes who, to the number of at least five 
or six, crowded close about her for a moment, but were quickly dispersed, I thought 
by some aggressive movement on her part although the whole thing occurred .so 
quickly that I could not see exactly what happened at the end. 
For nearly half an hour a picturesque line of birds, consisting of nine full 
plumaged males and two females, paraded on the glassy water well off shore and 
about two hundred yards from where I was sitting. They swam back and forth, 
over a perfectly straight course three hundred yards and more in length, moving 
slowly but steadily in single file, the females close together and ever in the lead, 
the proud drakes following them and each other at intervals varying from six or 
ten to fifteen or twenty feet. Although this orderly proce.ssion seldom halted, 
even for an instant, the males were almost incessantly posing and bleating and 
kicking up the little jets of water at their sterns, as they glided sedately over the 
calm surface of the bay. Apparently they performed by turns, not in any regular 
order nor at uniform intervals, but wholly at hap-hazard as far as sequence was 
concerned, although each bird seemed to take pains not to begin until his imme- 
diate predecessor had nearly or quite finished. The females swam slowl}" on in ad- 
vance without once turning their heads or giving other evidence that they noted 
what was happening behind them; nevertheless, it probably did not e.scape their close 
and critical attention, for ducks, like many other birds, can see well enough to the 
rear when their bills are pointing straight ahead. I watched this scene with ab- 
sorbing interest because of its novelty and picturesqueness. A small group of 
Golden-eyes which, for a shorter time, paraded in a similar mani'ler nearer at hand, 
included three drakes in full nuptial dress and two in immature plumage. 
The latter birds were distinguishable from the single female to which they 
were paying attention, only by their much larger size and by the presence of a few 
white feathers among their scapulars and on their heads. Yet they posed and 
bleated to her quite as ardently as did the older drakes, seeming, indeed, to have 
already mastered all the arts and graces of Whistler courtship. 
When not absorbed in watching the courting birds I paid some rather close 
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 
