May, 1916 
A POPULOUS SHORE 
109 
whether recognizing parental authority or not, cannot be told. As he rode 
the waves several times he put his bill down before him and then threw it up 
as if swallowing. Two that I startled one day near shore rose and flapped 
their wings till their big webbed feet showed above the water. A flock of 
forty or fifty once came plumping down, their webbed feet held out sideways 
like paddles. 
One of the big sea birds that I watched did actually go through the 
breaking surf prow on, but he must have been an inexperienced or unskillful 
one who had lost the chance of escape, for none of his fellows ever did such 
an unseemly thing. It was a pretty sight when, under a gray sky, the beauti- 
ful long green rolls of surf rose and combed over and the Surf Scoters came 
in from the green swells behind to feed in front of the surf and do skillful 
diving stunts to escape being pounded by the white waterfalls. As the 
green wall ridged up over their heads they would sit unmoved, but just as 
the white line of foam began to appear along the crest they would dive, 
staying under till the surf had broken and the water was level again. 
One day a young perspicillata had the stage to himself, coming in so 
close that I could see the peculiar swollen base of his bill. Once he stood up 
and flapped his wings proudly under the very roof of a combed-over breaker, 
ducking under only just in time. Often when feeding he would come up as if 
to breathe between breakers, but once he stayed under from the breaking of 
one wave till the foil rounding up of another, and no sooner came to the 
surface than he had to duck under again precipitately; and another time he 
actually got caught in the edge of the spray. After a time he seemed to tire 
of the constant ducking, and after rising and flapping his wings near shore 
went back where he could ride the green rollers without more ado, or per- 
haps he merely wanted to feed from the sea-weed farther out. 
A flock of about twenty-five Surf Scoters that I tried to count one 
morning — some would generally round a wave at the wrong moment and con- 
fuse my count — when swimming Indian file, on reaching a certain point dis- 
appeared one after the other, doubtless going down to a streamer of kelp 
under the surface. They were past masters in timing the breaking of the 
rollers, again and again riding over one the instant before the crest broke into 
foam. When feeding far out from shore a few of the sea birds would some- 
times get widely separated from the rest of the flock and after rising up to 
look over the water would swim or, if too far, fly across to rejoin their com- 
panions. 
One drizzly morning when the beach was deserted the Scoters were in 
near shore. Twelve were so near I could see the two light spots on the side 
of the head that mark the young perspicillata ; another time I counted thirty- 
six all with the white head spots. Fifteen more were out too far to distinguish 
details. The surf was rolling in, sea after sea, and the great birds rode the 
green rollers with as much apparent enjoyment as children do the chute-the- 
chutes ! When a squad were down in front of the surf line and the -foaming 
water-fall came, it was laughable to see the row of tails disappear below. A 
careless Duck once got carried half way up the concave of a breaker before 
he dived. Another one had a still more humiliating experience. He attempted 
to round a roller when it was just ready to break and as he was surmounting 
it, it began to comb over and he was forced to dive at the very crown of the 
wave to escape being carried down and pounded by the heavy surf! When 
