Mar.,1916 CHARACTERISTIC BIRDS OF THE DAKOTA PRAIRIES 55 plainly in her puffy brown head. As sh? swam slowly up and down the shore feeding, she passed two Killdeer walking on the beach. In feeding un?ler water she would dive and re-appear, throwing up her head to swallow. When she swam away, two white spots, one each side the tail, stood out like signal lanterns on the back of a car. She is surely a well marked bird. When the farmer pointe(? out hollow trees where these "Wood Ducks", as they are called locally, had nested in former years, his siste/? told of having seen the parents fly down from their knot-holes with young on their backs. Another observer added that the young steady themselves by taking hold of their mother's feathers with their bills. Another Duck that nested in the region, one of the Seaups, was seen on the lake at different times but never near enough to determine the species. A group of three, two of the handsome black-fronted drakes and one of the brown ducks, were seen swimming around close together the 21st of June in what seemed to be courtship rivalry, late though it was. After swimming along peacefully together for a few moments, one of the drakes would sud- denly .start after the other and dog his steps, swimming at his heels around and around as if trying to drive him off. The duck, meanwhile, holding her brown head high, apparently kept as far as possible from one of the rivals, though it was hard to tell which, the three swam within such a small circle. This droll performance was repeated a week later; but this time when two drakes and one duck were swimming around together a third drake happened along and seeing the group swam in rapidly as if to present his suit to the haughty lady. In any case, one suitor, presumably he, swam close to her ear. As before she held her disdainful head high and soon there were but two suitors, and at last but one. Down the lake could be seen five or six other Seaups, so let us hope that all the rivals were happily mated at last. Another hint of anserine rivalry was given by two of the large black White-winged Scoters, those interesting Sea Ducks of the far north, here reaching the southern limit of their breeding range. It was the merest hint, but as I watched, two of the red-billed drakes suddenly stood up on the lake and raising their wings till the white patches showed, dashed through the water at each other so furiously that I stood breathless, prepared for what might come. Around they turned and-?one swam off to a female spectator on the right and one to a female spectator on the left--and that was appar- ently the conclusion of the whole matter! This occurred on the 28th of June, but the Scoters are said to be late breeders. Previous to this exhibition of rivalry during the two weeks that I had been watching them the Scoters seen on the lake had almost invariably been in pairs, a black and a brown one, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, often widely separated but in sight from one short strip of beach. A party of eight were found to- gether in a bay one day making sociable duck-like noises, but on discovering me they separated out into pairs again. If that were previous to their breed- ing season did it indicate that they remain paired throughout the year? Phlegmatic, inadequately describes these great Sea Ducks. Decoys they might well be, you think aggrievedly as you watch them. Surely such rare visitors might do something to at least hold the attention! After sitting like chunks of wood for a long time one of the males might perhaps turn to lie on its side and plume itself with its red bill, tipping up a white-patched wing or pulling a gleaming red foot out of the water. And of course in feeding,
