maritonel 
1839. 
flI.VUI.A (<■ Gistd*.'® t 
Maine. 
T . UMbagog. 
Only four individuals seen this season, tsesaecj female <*s» ^ 
young on OotoberJUst; aifine adult male accompanied by a 
young male on the 3:3d, a single adult male on the 9,3d. The 
first mentloner specimen was diving m shallow water close 
to the shore of Moose Point. It allowed us to paddle with¬ 
in close gun range, therffoa'&s being partially concealed by a 
mat of grass hung over the bow. I shot^this bird, but fail¬ 
ed to kill it. The two noted on the 83d came into a cove 
near our camp and began diving close to the shore. I watch¬ 
ed them through a glass for over an hour, during which time 
they dove incessantly, sometimes alternately, but usually 
both together or one immediately after the other They 
rarely remained under water more than half a minute at a 
time. Upon coming to the surface the buoyancy of their bod¬ 
ies seemed to carry them upward above their normal level, 
or in other words they seemed to bob up like corks, sink¬ 
ing backwards into the water just afterwards. Their man¬ 
ner of diving was closely similar to that of the Whistler 
and less finished than that of the ’’eganser and $ rebes. The 
adult bird presented a beautiful appearance on the water, 
looking almost snow white and carr mg his crest erect most 
of the tune, his head looking very large and fluffy. They 
kept diving in nearly one spot w^ich was on the opposite 
side of the cove from where I was concealed; and at length 
making up my mind that they were not coming across to my 
side, I took a boat and paddling across the mouth of the 
cove within about one hundred yards of them, landed 
Wbbn the'boat came in- sight they watched it and ceased cav¬ 
ing, but did not seem to be much alarmed. I then stalked 
them easily enough by making short, quick runs when they were 
under water and finally shot them both. Prom the fact of 
their, diving so long and incessantly 'in nearly the. same spot 
I supposed of course that they found an abundant supply of, 
food there, but upon dissecting them I was surprised to 
that there was absolutely nothing in their stomachs except 
a very small quantity of gravel. The flight of this Duck 
is swift and direct like that of the Golden Eyed. Unlike 
that species, however, its wings do not make any distinct 
whistling sound. It looks very small when on the wing and 
can be readily distinguished by the peculiar markings, the 
white spot on the side of the head being especially eonspic- 
HI 
uous. 
