Part 9

Description.—Male with very long, narrow, middle tail-feathers, longer than in the Pintail; female without long tail-feathers. Male in winter: Sides of head washed with grayish brown; sides of back of head and upper neck black, more or less margined with buffy; rest of head, neck, upper back, scapulars, and lower belly, white; back and wings, breast, and upper belly, black; bill black with yellowish orange band across end; eyes pale brown. Female: Upper parts dark brown; scapulars and back more or less margined with grayish; sides of head and neck white or whitish; breast gray; belly white. The male in summer has the sides and front of head white; the rest of the plumage is chiefly black, save the belly, which is white. Length: male, 21 inches; female, 16 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A migrant from February 20 to April 10 and from November 1 to December 20, sometimes occurring in winter, and irregularly very abundant. Tremendous flocks have been noted at Conneaut Lake and at Lake Erie.

The Old Squaw is a handsome and noisy species and demands attention wherever it is found. It usually feeds in deep water, and therefore is found but rarely in smaller ponds or along streams. The under wing-coverts are dark, and there is no speculum in the wing. Its rapid flight carries it along, a few feet above the water, at from 35 to 60 miles an hour, perhaps faster, and it alights with a swish. It is an expert diver.

THE SCOTERS

Three species of scoter occur in Pennsylvania. They are diving ducks and are usually to be found only on the larger bodies of water. As a rule, they are not common; they are fond of salt water, and are commonly found in the bays along the Atlantic coast. The adult males all have grotesque and highly colored bills. All scoters are commonly called “Black Ducks” in the interior; along the coast they are called also “Sea Coots.” Scoters will, as a rule, be found in large, raft-like flocks.

AMERICAN SCOTER Oidemia americana Swainson

Description.—Male: Black, with rich purplish reflections; ridges among feathers of neck, bill black, with knob at base of upper mandible peach-yellow; feet brownish red; eyes dark brown. Female and young: Gray-brown in general appearance, with cheek region whitish, sharply defined from crown; underparts whitish, irregularly barred and mottled with dusky. Length: 19 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Rare migrant and winter visitant from November until early April, commonest, perhaps, at Lake Erie and Conneaut Lake.

This is probably the rarest of the scoters in Pennsylvania; further data are desirable.

WHITE-WINGED SCOTER Oidemia deglandi Bonaparte

Description.—Size large, noticeably larger than a Mallard. Male: Black, with white spot below and at rear of eye, and white speculum; belly and sides rich deep brown; bill orange, with long knob, black at base, feathers reaching forward on it far beyond corners of mouth; feet red; eyes white. Female and immature: Deep brown, lighter below; speculum white; spot at base of bill and ear-coverts whitish, not always clearly defined. Length: 22 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—As a rule, rare, save at Lake Erie and Conneaut Lake where it is sometimes fairly common during late fall; it is rarer in spring than in fall.

The white speculum of this large, heavy species will serve to identify it at some distance.

SURF SCOTER Melanitta perspicillata (Linnæus)

Description.—Larger than Mallard. Male: Black, with square crown-patch and triangular nape-patch of white; feet red; bill marked with red, white, and yellow, a black spot near base; eyes white. Female and immature: A whitish spot at base of bill and on ear-coverts, much as in the White-winged Scoter; upperparts dark brown; throat, breast, and sides grayer; belly white. Length: 20 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Like the White-winged Scoter, rare, save at Conneaut Lake and Lake Erie where it is a fairly common fall and rare spring migrant, which sometimes occurs during the winter. Scoters are occasionally seen along the Susquehanna and the Delaware rivers, but they are not, as a rule, either common or regular.

The strange shape and color-pattern of the bills of male scoters will distinguish them at once in hand. They are given to flocking and, as they feed, most of the flock may disappear for seconds at a time, to bob up buoyantly as others of the flock slip under.

RUDDY DUCK Erismatura jamaicensis (Gmelin)

Other Names.—Butterball; Bullhead; Bullneck; Dipper Duck.

Description.—Both sexes with thick necks, short upper tail-coverts, and stiff tails; about half as large as a Mallard. Male: Crown black; cheeks and chin white; throat, neck, and back rich rufous; lower back and tail blackish; breast and belly silvery white, somewhat mottled along sides; bill pale gray-blue; eyes black. Female and immature: Upperparts dark grayish brown, feathers marked with narrow, wavy, buffy bars; sides of head and upper throat whitish; lower throat and neck grayish; underparts silvery white. Length: 15 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Fairly common and regular as a migrant, sometimes abundant, from April 1 to May 15 and from October 1 to November 15. It is seen along smaller as well as larger waterways where it may dive readily upon being approached.

The Ruddy Duck, with its stiff, upturned tail, is comical in appearance. The male, while in bright breeding plumage, is given to holding himself with a jaunty air. They are expert divers but sometimes have difficulty in rising from the water, for their wings are comparatively small. As they get under way they patter with their great feet while their wings beat the water noisily. The neck of the Ruddy Duck is unusually large for a duck. The head may even be pushed back into the skin of the neck; in most ducks the circumference of the neck is noticeably less than that of the head at its greatest diameter.

CANADA GOOSE Branta canadensis canadensis (Linnæus)

Other Names.—Wild Goose; Honker.

Description.—Size large, about that of a domestic Goose, with about the same proportions; sexes similar. Head and neck black, a broad band under eye, and across throat, white; upperparts brownish gray, the feathers margined with a lighter shade, giving a somewhat scaled appearance; breast and sides gray-brown, more or less as in back; belly white; rump and tail black; upper tail-coverts white. Feet and bill black; eyes dark brown. Length: About 3 feet.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A regular and sometimes common migrant from mid-February to early April and from October 15 to November 30, sometimes occurring in winter, even when ice covers the lakes, at which times the great birds stand about on the frozen surface. As a rule, Canada Geese do not stop long in Pennsylvania; most flocks do not linger here at all, merely passing over.

For us, since the days of our forefathers, and for the Red Man who originally inhabited Penn’s Woods, the V-shaped spring flocks of Canada Geese have heralded the breaking up of the winter, and, in the fall, the coming of the cold season. Canada Geese migrate both by day and night, but they are noticed at night more often than by day because in the comparative stillness of the dark hours their loud, musical bugling drifts down to us as we lie awake, thrilled at the sound. Could we see the great birds, could we know the distant clime toward which they are heading, some of the mystery might be dispelled; but their long journey, their great bodies speeding along at 60 miles an hour or more, and their wide, swishing wings are only suggested by the clamor and challenge that comes to us, holds us spellbound, then gradually dies away as the flock passes on.

Canada Geese are not so aquatic in habit as are ducks. Large flocks often descend to the fields where they feed upon grass or sprouting grain and where they walk about in a dignified fashion.