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THE HARLEQUIN DUCK. 
Fuligula histrionic a, Linn . 
PLATE CCCCIX. — Male, Female, and Young. 
I have the pleasure of presenting you with three figures of the Harlequin 
Duck, one a male in all the perfection of its spring plumage, the bird having 
attained complete maturity, another male two years old, and an adult female 
shot in the pairing season. No figures of the adult male or of the female 
have, I believe, hitherto been published. 
To the south of the Bay of Boston the “ Lord and Lady Duck ” is rarely 
seen on our coast ; but from that neighbourhood it becomes more plentiful as 
you proceed eastward ; and, on reaching Maine and the entrance of the Bay 
of Fundy, you may see it at any period of the year among the rocky islands 
there. It breeds on the Seal, White Head, and Grand Manan Islands, and 
along the coast of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Newfoundland, and Labrador. 
Many, however, proceed much farther north, for specimens were obtained 
by Captain James Clark Ross in the highest latitudes visited by him. It 
is extremely attached to certain localities, from which it rarely wanders 
unless greatly molested, and it thus remains about the islands, or the parts 
of the coast on which it breeds, unless it be forced off by very severe 
weather in winter. Few persons shoot it for its flesh ; not that it is inferior 
as food to other deep-diving Ducks, but because it is comparatively small, 
and difficult to be obtained. Not only is it all seasons remarkably shy 
and vigilant, but even if approached when on rocks, it plunges into the 
water the moment its keen eye catches a glance of you, dives with all the 
agility of the Black Guillemot, and seldom rises within shot. If you shoot 
at it when passing on wing, even should it be beyond reach, it plunges into 
the water the moment it perceives the flash, — a habit which is also occasion- 
ally observed in the Black Guillemot. It being usually found in flocks of 
one or two families, or of from twelve to fifteen individuals, some one 
always acts as a watchful sentinel, whose single note of alarm is sufficient to 
induce the whole to move off without hesitation. Notwithstanding all this 
vigilance, however, my party procured a good number of them at different 
times, by lying in wait for them under cover of some rocks, in the neigh- 
bourhood of which they were known to alight at certain hours of the day, 
