week of May. Some resort to islands scantily furnished with grass,
near the tufts of which they construct their nests; others form them
beneath the spreading boughs of the stunted firs, and in such places,
five, six, or even eight are sometimes found beneath a single bush.
Many are placed on the sheltered shelvings of rocks a few feet above
high-water mark, but none at any considerable elevation, at least none
of my party, including the sailors, found any in such a position. The
nest, which is sunk as much as possible into the ground, is formed
of sea-weeds, mosses, and dried twigs, so matted and interlaced
as to give an appearance of neatness to the central cavity, which
rarely exceeds seven inches in diameter. In the beginning of June
the eggs are deposited, the male attending upon the female the whole
time. The eggs, which are regularly placed on the moss and weeds of
the nest, without any down, are generally from five to seven, three
inches in length, two inches and one eighth in breadth, being thus
much larger than those of the domestic Duck, of a regular oval form,
smooth-shelled, and of a uniform pale olive green. I may here mention,
by the way, that they afford delicious eating. I have not been able
to ascertain the precise period of incubation. If the female is not
disturbed, or her eggs removed or destroyed, she lays only one set
in the season, and as soon as she begins to sit the male leaves her.
When the full complement of eggs has been laid, she begins to pluck
some down from the lower parts of her body; this operation is daily
continued for some time, until the roots of the feathers, as far
forward as she can reach, are quite bare, and as clean as a wood from
which the undergrowth has been cleared away. This down she disposes
beneath and around the eggs. When she leaves the nest to go in search
of food, she places it over the eggs, and in this manner, it may be
presumed to keep up their warmth, although it does not always ensure
their safety, for the Black-backed Gull is apt to remove the covering,
and suck or otherwise destroy the eggs.
No sooner are the young hatched than they are led to the water, even
when it is a mile distant, and the travelling difficult, both for
the parent bird and her brood; but when it happens that the nest has
been placed among rocks over the water, the Eider, like the Wood
Duck, carries the young in her bill to their favourite element. I
felt very anxious to find a nest placed over a soft bed of moss or
other plants, to see, whether, like the Wood Duck on such occasions,
the Eider would suffer her young ones to fall from the nest; but
unfortunately I had no opportunity of observing a case of this kind.
The care which the mother takes of her young for two or three weeks,
cannot be exceeded. She leads them gently in a close flock in shallow
waters, where, by diving, they procure food, and at times, when the
young are fatigued, and at some distance from the shore, she sinks
her body in the water, and receives them on her back, where they
remain several minutes. At the approach of their merciless enemy,
the Black-backed Gull, the mother beats the water with her wings,
as if intending to raise the spray around her, and on her uttering a
peculiar sound, the young dive in all directions, while she endeavours
to entice the marauder to follow her, by feigning lameness, or she
leaps out of the water and attacks her enemy, often so vigorously,
that, exhausted and disappointed, he is glad to fly off, on which she
alights near the rocks, among which she expects to find her brood,
and calls them to her side. Now and then I saw two females which had
formed an attachment to each other, as if for the purpose of more
effectually contributing to the safety of their young, and it was
very seldom that I saw these prudent mothers assailed by the gull.
The young, at the age of one week, are of a dark mouse colour,
thickly covered with soft warm down. Their feet at this period are
proportionally very large and strong. By the 20th of July they seemed
to be all hatched. They grew rapidly, and when about a fortnight old
were, with great difficulty, obtained, unless during stormy weather,
when they at times retired from the sea to shelter themselves under
the shelvings of the rocks at the head of shallow bays. It is by
no means difficult to rear them, provided proper care be taken of
them, and they soon become quite gentle and attached to the place
set apart for them. A fisherman of Eastport, who carried eight or
ten of them from Labrador, kept them several years in a yard close
to the water of the bay, to which, after they were grown, they daily
betook themselves, along with some common ducks, regularly returning
on shore towards evening. Several persons who had seen them, assured
me that they were as gentle as their associates, and although not
so active on land, were better swimmers, and moved more gracefully
on the water. They were kept until the male birds acquired their
perfect plumage and mated; but some gunners shot the greater number
of them one winter day, having taken them for wild birds, although
none of them could fly, they having been pinioned. I have no doubt
that if this valuable bird were domesticated, it would prove a great
acquisition, both on account of its feathers and down, and its flesh
as an article of food. I am persuaded that very little attention
would be necessary to effect this object. When in captivity, it feeds
on different kinds of grain and moistened corn-meal, and its flesh
becomes excellent. Indeed, the sterile females which we procured at
Labrador in considerable number, tasted as well as the mallard. The
males were tougher and more fishy, so that we rarely ate of them,
although the fishermen and settlers paid no regard to sex in this
matter.
When the female Eider is suddenly discovered on her nest, she takes to
wing at a single spring; but if she sees her enemy at some distance,
she walks off a few steps, and then flies away. If unseen by a person
coming near, as may often happen, when the nest is placed under the
boughs of the dwarf fir, she will remain on it, although she may hear
people talking. On such occasions my party frequently discovered the
nests by raising the pine branches, and were often as much startled
as the ducks themselves could be, as the latter instantly sprung past
them on wing, uttering a harsh cry. Now and then some were seen to
alight on the ground within fifteen or twenty yards, and walk as if
lame and broken-winged, crawling slowly away, to entice their enemies
to go in pursuit. Generally, however, they would fly to the sea, and
remain there in a large flock until their unwelcome visitors departed.
When pursued by a boat, with their brood around them, they allowed
us to come up to shooting distance, when, feigning decrepitude, they
would fly off, beating the water with partially extended wings, while
the young either dived or ran on the surface with wonderful speed,
for forty or fifty yards, then suddenly plunged, and seldom appeared
at the surface unless for a moment. The mothers always flew away
as soon as their brood dispersed, and then ended the chase. The cry
or note of the female is a hoarse rolling croak; that of the male I
never heard.
Should the females be robbed of their eggs, they immediately go off
in search of mates, whether their previous ones or not I cannot tell,
although I am inclined to think so. However this may be, the duck
in such a case soon meets with a drake, and may be seen returning
the same day with him to her nest. They swim, fly, and walk side by
side, and by the end of ten or twelve days the male takes his leave,
and rejoins his companions out at sea, while the female is found
sitting on a new set of eggs, seldom, however, exceeding four. But
this happens only at an early period of the season, for I observed
that as soon as the males had begun to moult, the females, whose nests
had been plundered, abandoned the place. One of the most remarkable
circumstances connected with these birds is, that the females with
broods are fully three weeks later in moulting than the males, whereas
those which do not breed begin to moult as early as they. This may
probably seem strange, but I became quite satisfied of the fact while
at Labrador, where, from the number which we procured in a state
of change, and the vast quantities every now and then in sight, our
opportunities of observing these birds in a perfectly natural state
were ample.
Some authors have said that the males keep watch near the females;
but, although this may be the case in countries such as Greenland
and Iceland, where the Eiders have been trained into a state of
semi-domestication, it certainly was not so in Labrador. Not a
single male did we there see near the females after incubation had
commenced, unless in the case mentioned above, when the latter had
been deprived of their eggs. The males invariably kept aloof and in
large flocks, sometimes of a hundred or more individuals, remaining
out at sea over large banks with from seven to ten fathoms of water,
and retiring at night to insular rocks. It seemed very wonderful
that in the long lines in which we saw them travelling, we did not
on any occasion discover among them a young bird, or one not in its
mature plumage. The young males, if they breed before they acquire
their full colouring, must either be by themselves at this period,
or with the barren females, which, as I have already said, separate
from those that are breeding. I am inclined to believe that the old
males commence their southward migration before the females or the
young, as none were to be seen for about a fortnight before the latter
started. In winter, when these Ducks are found on the Atlantic shores
of the United States, the males and females are intermingled; and at
the approach of spring the mated pairs travel in great flocks, though
disposed in lines, when you can distinctly see individuals of both
sexes alternating.
The flight of the Eider is firm, strong, and generally steady. They
propel themselves by constant beats of the wings, undulating their
lines according to the inequality of surface produced by the waves,
over which they pass at the height of a few yards, and rarely more
than a mile from the shores. Few fly across the Gulf of St Lawrence,
as they prefer following the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland,
to the eastern entrance of the straits of Belle Isle, beyond which
many proceed farther north, while others ascend that channel and
settle for the season along the shores of Labrador, as far up as
Partridge Bay, and still farther up the St Lawrence. Whilst on our
waters, or at their breeding grounds, the Eiders are not unfrequently
seen flying much higher than when travelling, but in that case they
seem to be acting with the intention of guarding against their enemy
man. The velocity of their flight has been ascertained to be about
eighty miles in the hour.
This species dives with great agility, and can remain a considerable
time under water, often going down in search of food to the depth of
eight or ten fathoms, or even more. When wounded, however, they soon
become fatigued in consequence of the exertion used in diving, and
may be overtaken by a well-manned boat in the course of half an hour
or so, as when fatigued they swim just below the surface, and may be
struck dead with an oar or a boat-hook.
Their food consists principally of shell-fish, the shells of which they
seem to have the power of breaking into pieces. In many individuals
which I opened, I found the entrails almost filled with small
fragments of shells mixed with other matter. Crustaceous animals and
their roe, as well as that of various fishes, I also found in their
stomach, along with pebbles sometimes as large as a hazel nut. The
œsophagus, which is in form like a bag, and is of a leathery firm
consistence, was often found distended with food, and usually emitted
a very disagreeable fishy odour. The gizzard is extremely large and
muscular. The trachea of the young male, so long as it remains in its
imperfect plumage, or for the first twelve months, does not resemble
that of the old male; but on this subject I intend to speak at length
on another occasion. The males do not obtain their full plumage until
the fourth winter. They at first resemble the mother, then gradually
become pie-bald, but not in less time than between two and three years.
The Eider Duck takes a heavy shot, and is more easily killed on wing
than while swimming. When on shore they mark your approach while you
are yet at a good distance, and fly off before you come within shot.
Sometimes you may surprise them while swimming below high rocks, and,
if you are expert, then shoot them; but when they have first seen
you, it is seldom that you can procure them, as they dive with extreme
agility. While at Great Macatina Harbour, we discovered a large basin
of water, communicating with the sea by a very narrow passage about
thirty yards across, and observed that at particular stages of the
tides the Eider Ducks entered and returned by it. By hiding ourselves
on both sides of this channel, we succeeded in killing a good number,
but rarely more than one at a shot, although sometimes we obtained
from a single file as many as we had of gun-barrels.
Excepting in a single nest, I found no down clean, it having been in
every other instance more or less mixed with small dry fir twigs and
bits of grass. When cleaned, the down of a nest rarely exceeds an
ounce in weight, although, from its great elasticity, it is so bulky
as to fill a hat, or if properly prepared even a larger space. The
eggers of Labrador usually collect it in considerable quantity, but
at the same time make such havock among the birds, that at no very
distant period the traffic must cease.
ANAS MOLLISSIMA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 198.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 845.
FULIGULA MOLLISSIMA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of
the United States, p. 388.
SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA, _Swains. and Richards._ Fauna Bor.
Amer. part ii. p. 448.
EIDER DUCK, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 406.
Adult Male. Plate CCXLVI. Figs. 1. 1.
Bill about the length of the head, deeper than broad at the base,
somewhat depressed towards the end, which is broad and rounded. Upper
mandible with a soft tumid substance at the base, extending upon
the forehead, and deeply divided into two narrow rounded lobes, its
whole surface marked with divergent oblique lines, the dorsal outline
nearly straight and sloping to beyond the nostrils, then curved, the
ridge broad at the base, broadly convex towards the end, the edges
perpendicular, obtuse, with about fifty small lamellæ on the inner
side, the unguis very large, elliptical. Nostrils submedial, oblong,
large, pervious, nearer the ridge than the edge. Lower mandible
flattened, with the angle very long, rather narrow and rounded, the
dorsal line short and slightly convex, the edges with about sixty
lamellæ, the unguis very broad, elliptical.
Head very large. Eyes of moderate size. Neck of moderate length,
rather slender at its upper part. Body bulky and much depressed.
Wings rather small. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far behind;
tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly having a series of scutella
in its whole length, and a partial series above the fourth toe, the
rest reticulated with angular scales. Hind toe small, with a free
membrane beneath; anterior toes double the length of the tarsus,
connected by reticulated membranes, having a sinus at their free
margins, the inner with a broad lobed marginal membrane, the outer
with a thickened edge; all obliquely scutellate above, the third and
fourth about equal and longest. Claws small, that of first toe very
small and curved, of middle toe largest, all rather depressed and
blunt.
Plumage short, dense, soft, blended. Feathers on the fore part of the
head extremely small; on the upper part very narrow, on the occiput
and upper and lateral parts of the neck hairlike, stiff and glossy.
Wings rather short, narrow, pointed; primary quills curved, strong,
tapering, the first longest, the second scarcely shorter, the rest
rapidly graduated; secondaries short, broad, rounded, the inner
elongated, tapering, and recurved. Tail very short, much rounded, of
sixteen narrow feathers.
Bill pale greyish-yellow, the unguis lighter, the soft tumid part pale
flesh-colour. Iris brown. Feet dingy light green, the webs dusky. Upper
part of the head bluish-black; the central part from the occiput to
the middle white. The hair-like feathers on the upper part and sides
of the neck are of a delicate pale green tint. The sides of the head,
the throat, and the neck, are white, the fore neck at its lower part
of a fine colour intermediate between buff and cream-colour. The rest
of the lower surface is brownish-black, as are the upper tail-coverts,
and the central part of the rump. The rest of the back, the scapulars,
smaller wing-coverts, and inner curved secondary quills, white, the
scapulars tinged with yellow. Secondary coverts and outer secondaries
brownish-black; primaries and tail-coverts greyish-brown.
Length to end of tail 25 inches, to end of wings 21-1/2, to end of claws
27; extent of wings 42; wing from flexure 11-1/2; tail 4-1/4; bill from
extremity of tumid part 2-10/12, from its notch 2-2/12, along the edge
of lower mandible 2-10/12; tarsus 1-3/4; middle toe 2-10/12, its claw
7/12. Weight in winter, 5 lb. 5-1/2 oz.; in breeding time 4 lb. 8-1/2
oz.
Adult Female. Plate CCXLVI. Fig. 2.
The Female differs greatly from the Male. The bill is shorter, its
tumid basal part much less and narrower. The feathers of the head and
upper part of the neck are very small, soft, and uniform; the scapulars
and inner secondaries are not elongated, as in the male. Bill pale
greyish-green; iris and feet as in the male. The head and neck all
round light brownish-red with small lines of brownish-black. Lower part
of neck all round, the whole upper surface, the sides, and the lower
tail-coverts of the same colours, but there the brownish-black markings
are broad. Secondary quills and larger coverts greyish-brown, tipped
with white, primaries brownish-black; tail-feathers greyish-brown.
Breast and abdomen greyish-brown, obscurely mottled.
Length to end of tail 24 inches, to end of wings 20-1/2, to end of claws
27; extent of wings 39; wing from flexure 11-1/4; tail 4; bill 3-7/12;
tarsus 1-3/4; middle toe 2-7/12, its claw (5-1/2)/12. Weight in winter
4 lb. 4-1/2 oz.; in breeding time 3 lb. 12 oz.
The down of the female is light grey; that of the male on the white
parts is pure white, on the dark, greyish-white.
I have represented three of these birds in a state of irritation. A
mated pair, having a few eggs already laid, have been approached by
a single male, and are in the act of driving off the intruder, who,
to facilitate his retreat, is lashing his antagonists with his wings.
THE VELVET DUCK.
_FULIGULA FUSCA_, BONAP.
PLATE CCXLVII. MALE AND FEMALE.
The Velvet Duck arrives from the north along the shores of the Middle
States, about the first of September, and extends to a greater or
less distance southward, according to the state of the weather,
often proceeding as far as Georgia. The Bay of Chesapeake and all the
estuaries to the eastward are amply furnished with it, and there it
is usually seen in company with the American Scoter, the Golden-eyed
Duck, and some other species. It very rarely enters fresh waters
during its stay on our coast, and is with great propriety called a
Sea Duck. My friend THOMAS NUTTALL mentions that some, which probably
were young birds, had been seen in Fresh Pond near Cambridge in
Massachusetts. This is the only case of the kind that I have heard
of, although these birds breed in fresh water lakes and in rivers,
in which they remain at the season of reproduction about two months.
In the beginning of April, the Velvet Ducks, which are gregarious,
collect in large flocks, for the purpose of removing to their northern
breeding places, and as they fly steadily onwards, you may see
thousands passing at short distances from the shores, and forming
an almost continuous line, each flock composed of twenty or thirty
individuals, which fly low and irregularly, ranged in an angular
form. While on the Bay of Fundy, I went with my party to a projecting
cape, round which these birds passed during our stay, from daylight
until evening. When it blows hard from the sea, the Ducks come near
to the shore, and afford abundant opportunities to such sportsmen as
are fond of shooting them.
As we approached the shores of Labrador, we found the waters covered
with dense flocks of these birds, and yet they continued to arrive
there from the St Lawrence for several days in succession. We were
all astonished at their numbers, which were such that we could not
help imagining that all the Velvet Ducks in the world were passing
before us. This was about the middle of June, which I thought late
for them, but the season had been tardy, and the fishermen informed
us, that when the weather is warmer, these birds pass a fortnight
earlier. The greater number merely appear for a few days on their
way farther north, but some remain to breed on the southern coast of
Labrador. Thousands of sterile individuals, however, spend the summer
on the Bay of Fundy.
During the breeding season, the Velvet Duck resembles the Eider in
its habits, only that it prefers fresh water, which is rarely the case
with the other species. The males leave the females after incubation
has commenced. Those which breed at Labrador begin to form their nests
from the 1st to the 10th of June, and on the 28th of July I caught
some young ones several days old. The nests are placed within a few
feet of the borders of small lakes, a mile or two distant from the
sea, and usually under the low boughs of the bushes, of the twigs
of which, with mosses and various plants matted together, they are
formed. They are large and almost flat, several inches thick, with
some feathers of the female, but no down, under the eggs, which are
usually six in number, intermediate in size between those of the Eider
and King Ducks, measuring an inch and three quarters in length, one
and seven-eighths in breadth, of a uniform pale cream colour tinged
with green, not pure white as stated by some authors. On the 28th of
July I procured five young ones out of a brood of six, among which,
although to appearance scarcely a week old, I could readily distinguish
the males from the females as they swam on the little pond around
their mother, the former having already a white spot under the eye.
The down with which they were covered was rather stiff and hair-like,
of a black colour, excepting under the chin, where there was a small
patch of white. They swam with great ease, and when we drove them
into a narrow place for the purpose of catching them, they several
times turned upon us and dived with the view of getting back to the
middle of the pond, so that at last we found it necessary to shoot
them. Only one escaped ashore, which my young friend THOMAS LINCOLN
caught, but afterwards restored to its mother, which continued on
the pond, manifesting the greatest anxiety, and calling to her brood
all the while with short squeaking notes, by no means unpleasant to
the ear. On being shot at, she flew off to another pond, but soon
returned. Her plumage was rusty and ragged, but the wings seemed to
be complete, as she flew with great ease, springing at once from the
water.
Mr JONES of Bras d’Or assured me, that either that individual or
another of the same species, had bred on the same pond for six or
seven years in succession, and that he had looked at the nest and
observed her manners when leading about the young, which he said
did not leave the pond until they were able to fly. That year, 1833,
she and her mate had arrived nearly a month later than usual. This
accounted for the small size of the young, which he was sorry to see
dead; and here let me say that Mr JONES, who is not only a good-hearted
and benevolent man, but also fond of observing nature, was the first
person I met with who could give me any rational account of the ducks
which bred in his vicinity.