The Bird Book Part 18

[Ill.u.s.tration: deco.]

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153. BUFFLE-HEAD. _Charitonetta albeola._

Range.--North America, breeding from United States northward. Winters south to Mexico.

Gunners know this handsome little duck by the names of "b.u.t.ter-ball,"

and "Dipper," a name also given to Grebes. It is also quite similar, but smaller (15 in. long), to the American Golden-eye but has a large white patch on the back of the head, from eye to eye. It is an active bird and, like the two preceding, is capable of diving to a great depth to get its food. Its nesting habits are like the preceding. Eggs eight to fourteen. Size 2 1.40. Data.--Alberta, Canada, June 6, 1899. Seven eggs. Nest in hole in tree stump, lined with down. Collector, Dr.

George.

154. OLD-SQUAW. _Harelda hyemalis._

Range.--Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic regions; south in winter to New Jersey and Illinois.

The Long-tailed Duck, as it is called, is especially noticeable because the breeding plumage of the male differs markedly from that in the winter. In summer their general plumage is blackish brown, with a white patch around the eye, and white belly. In winter they are largely white.

The central tail feathers are much lengthened. They breed abundantly in Greenland, Alaska and the Hudson Bay Territory, placing their nests of gra.s.ses and weeds on the ground near the water. It is generally concealed in the long gra.s.s. The eggs number from six to twelve. Size 2.

1.50. Data.--N. Iceland, June 10, 1900. Nest on ground, lined with down. Collector, S. H. Wallis.

[Ill.u.s.tration 102: Dull buff.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Buffle-head. Old-squaw.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Buff.]

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155. HARLEQUIN DUCK. _Histrionicus histrionicus._

Range.--Northern Hemisphere in America, breeding from Newfoundland and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, northward. South in winter to California and New England.

A beautiful and most gorgeous bird, not in colors, but in the oddity of the markings, the colors only including black, white, gray and chestnut.

Either s.e.x can be recognized by the small short bill. They breed mostly in single pairs along swiftly running streams, placing their nest, which is woven of weeds and gra.s.ses, in the ground near the water. It is also claimed that they sometimes nest in hollow trees. They lay from five to eight eggs, yellowish or greenish buff in color. Size 2.30 1.60.

Data.--Peel River, Alaska, June 13, 1898. Seven eggs in a hollow in river bank, lined with down. Collector, C. E. Whittaker.

156. LABRADOR DUCK. _Camptorhynchus labradorius._

This bird, whose range was from Labrador to New Jersey in the winter, has probably been extinct since 1875, when the last authentic capture was made. It is a strange fact that a bird of this character should have been completely exterminated, even though they were often sold in the markets. Only forty-one specimens are known to be preserved at present and nothing is known in regard to their nesting habits or eggs.

[Ill.u.s.tration 103: Greenish buff.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Harlequin Duck. Labrador Duck.]

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157. STELLER'S DUCK. _Polysticta stelleri._

Range.--Arctic regions in America, chiefly on the Aleutian Islands and northwest coast of Alaska.

A very beautiful species eighteen inches long; head white, washed with greenish on the forehead and nape; chin, throat, neck, back, tail and crissum, black; underparts chestnut; wing coverts white, the long scapulars black and white. It breeds on the rocky coasts and islands of Bering Sea. The six to nine eggs are pale olive green in color. Size 2.25 1.60. Data.--Admiralty Bay, Alaska, June 22, 1898. Nest on a hummock of the tundra, near a small pool, lined with gra.s.s and down.

Collector, E. A. McIlhenny.

158. SPECTACLED EIDER. _Arctonetta fischeri._

Range.--Coast of Alaska from the Aleutians to Point Barrow.

Like the rest of the true Eiders, this species is black beneath and mostly white above. The head is largely washed with sea green, leaving a large patch of white, narrowly bordered by black around each eye, thus resembling a pair of spectacles. The nests are made of gra.s.s and seaweed and lined with down; they are placed on the ground in clumps of gra.s.s or beneath overhanging stones. The five to nine eggs are an olive drab or greenish color. Size 2.70 1.85. Data.--Point Barrow, Alaska, June 15, 1898. Six eggs. Nest of moss and down in a hollow in dry tundra.

Collector, E. A. McIlhenny.

159. NORTHERN EIDER. _Somateria mollissima borealis._

Range.--North Atlantic coast, breeding from Labrador to Greenland and wintering south to New England.

A large Duck similar to the next species, but with the base of the bill differing, as noted in the description of the following species, and with a more northerly distribution. The nesting habits are the same as those of the other Eiders. Six to ten eggs generally of a greenish drab color. Size 3. 2.

[Ill.u.s.tration 104: Steller's Duck. Spectacled Eider.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pale olive green.]

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160. EIDER. _Somateria dresseri._

Range.--Atlantic coast, breeding from Maine to Labrador and wintering south to Delaware.

This species differs from the preceding only in the fleshy part of the base of the bill, which extends back on each side of the forehead, it being broad and rounded in this species and narrow and pointed in the Northern or Greenland Eider. This species, but more especially the Northern Eider, are the ones chiefly used for the eider-down of commerce. The preceding species is often semi-domesticated in Greenland, the people protecting them and encouraging them to nest in the neighborhood. They make their nests of seaweed and gra.s.s and warmly line it with down from their breast; this down is continually added to the nest during incubation until there is a considerable amount in each nest, averaging about an ounce in weight. The birds are among the strongest of the sea ducks and get their food in very deep water. Their flesh is not good eating. Their eggs number from five to ten and are greenish drab. Size 3. 2.

161. PACIFIC EIDER. _Somateria v-nigra._

Range.--North Pacific from the Aleutian Islands northward, and east to Great Slave Lake.

This bird is, in plumage, like the Northern Eider, except that it has a black V-shaped mark on the throat. They nest sparingly on the Aleutian Islands, but in great numbers farther north on the coast about Point Barrow. Their habits, nests and eggs are precisely the same as those of the eastern forms. Their eggs number from five to ten and are of olive greenish color. Size 3. 2. Data.--Cape Smythe, Alaska, June 8, 1900.

Eight eggs. Nest a hollow in the moss, lined with gra.s.s and down.

[Ill.u.s.tration 105: Greenish drab.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Eider. Pacific Eider.]

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162. KING EIDER. _Somateria spectabilis._

Range.--Northern Hemisphere, breeding in America from Labrador to Greenland and the Arctic Ocean; south in winter to the New England States and rarely farther on the eastern side, and to the Aleutians on the Pacific; also casually to the Great Lakes in the interior.