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HERE is an instance where the female is the head of the family indeed, for
by common consent the name includes the male of this species. It has
numerous other names, however, as Old Wife, South-Southerly, Long-tailed
Duck, Swallow-tailed Duck, Old Injun (Massachusetts and Connecticut;) Old
Molly, Old Billy, Scolder, (New Hampshire and Massachusetts.)
The habitat of the Old Squaw is the northern hemisphere; in America, south
in winter to nearly the southern border of the United States. It is
distributed throughout the northern portions of the globe, but makes its
summer home in Arctic regions. George Harlow Clarke, Naturalist, Peary
Polar Expedition, in a recent article mentioned that, "in June the Old
Squaw's clanging call resounded everywhere along shore, and the birds
themselves were often perceived gliding to and fro amid the ice cakes
drifting with the tide between the main ice-floe and the land." It is a
resident in Greenland and breeds in various places in Iceland. The nests
are made on the margins of lakes or ponds, among low bushes or tall grass,
are constructed of grasses, and generally, but not always, warmly lined
with down and feathers. The eggs are from six to twelve in number. In the
United States the Long-tail is found only in winter. Mr. Nelson found it to
be an abundant winter resident on Lake Michigan, where the first stragglers
arrived about the last of October, the main body arriving about a month
later and departing about the the first of April, a few lingering until
about the last of the month.
The words _south--south--southerly_, which some have fancied to resemble
its cry, and which have accordingly been used as one of its local names,
did not, to the ear of Dr. Brewer, in the least resemble the sounds which
the bird makes; but he adds that the names "Old Wives" and "Old Squaws" as
applied to the species are not inappropriate, since when many are assembled
their notes resemble a confused gabble. Hallock says that most of the
common names of this Duck are taken from its noisy habits, for it is almost
continually calling.
Mr. E. P. Jaques, asks, in _Field and Stream_, "What has become of our
Waterfowl?" assuming that their numbers have greatly diminished. "The
answer is a simple one," he goes on to say; "they have followed conditions.
Take away their breeding and feeding grounds and the birds follow. Bring
back their breeding and feeding grounds and lo! the birds reappear. For the
past five years waterfowl have been about as scarce in the Dakotas as in
Illinois or Indiana. The lakes were dry and conditions were unfavorable for
them. In the spring of 1897 the lakes filled up once more. For the most
part the bottoms of the lakes were wheat stubbles. This furnished food for
the spring flight and thousands of birds nested there. When the wheat was
gone the aquatic growth took its place and for every thousand Ducks that
tarried there in the spring, ten thousand appeared in the fall."
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