Jan., 1911 COURTSHIP OF THE AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE 29 markable. I xvonder if it continues to be abseut later in the season when sexual intercourse is near at hand. The more elaborate of the ceremonials of courtship above described were seldom if ever performed this moruing by solitary males, even when accompanied by females, nor did they occur when females were absent or far removed. Indeed I witnessed them only when at least two or three, oftener four or five, and some- times as many as nine drakes were in rather close association with one or more females. Often the males would collect about a female in a rather scattered group and entertain her for minutes at a time by their grotesque actions and peculiar love calls. Whenever this happened the female remained, for the most part, compara- tively inactive and apparently quite indifferent to the attentions of her showy ad- mirers, although she might occasionally single out and obviously encourage one of them by ? approaching him closely and bobbing her head up and down a few times. To this salutation he would immediately respond by a corresponding action before beginning his more elaborate performances again. Sometimes the female would suddenly assume the crouching posture which would be instantly imitated by one or more of the males. Once I saw a bird which was unquestionably a female, first nod, next crouch, and then take the bowsprit pose! This behaviour ou her part created inte?tse excitement among the attendant drakes who, to the number Of at least five or six, crowded close about her for a moment, but were quickly dispersed, I thought by some aggressive movement on her part although the whole thing occurred so quickly that I could not see exactly what happened at the end. For nearly half an hour a picturesque line of birds, consisting of nine full plumaged males and two females, paraded on the glassy water well off shore and about two hundred yards from where I was sitting. They swam back and forth, over a perfectly straight course three hundred yards and more in length, moving sloxvly but steadily in single file, the females close together and ever in the lead, the proud drakes following them and each other at intervals varying from six or ten to fifteen or twenty feet. Although this orderly procession seldom halted, even for an instant, the males were almost incessantly posing and bleating and kicking up the little jets of water at their sterus, as they glided sedately over the calm surface of the bay. Apparently they performed by turns, not in any regular order nor at uniform intervals, but wholly at hap-hazard as far as sequence was concerned, although each bird seemed to take pains not to begin until his imme- diate predecessor had nearly or quite finished. The females swam slowly on in ad- vance without once turning their heads or giving other evidence that they noted what was happening behind them; nevertheless, it probably did not escape their close and critical attention, for ducks, like many other birds, can see well enough to the rear when their bills are pointing straight ahead. I watched this scene with ab- sorbing interest because of its novelty and picturesqueness. A small group of Golden-eyes which, for a shorter time, paraded in a similar manner nearer at hand, included three drakes in full nuptial dress and two in immature plumage. The latter birds were distinguishable from the single female to which they were paying attention, only by.their much larger size and by the presence of a few white feathers among their scapulars and on their heads. Yet they posed aud bleated to her quite as ardently as did the older drakes, seeming, indeed, to have already mastered all the arts and graces of Whistler courtship.
XVhen not absorbed in watching the courting birds I paid some rather close
attention to those which were diving for food. As far as I could see (and they were very near me at times) their wings were always kept tightly closed or folded as long as they remai?ed in sight. Their tails were invariably spread to the utmost
