OLD SQUAW; LONG-TAILED DUCK
154. Harelda hyemalis. ♂ 21; ♀ 16 in.
This species is one of the very few ducks that change their plumages in summer and winter. The female is marked similarly to the male but is very much duller colored, and lacks the long tail feathers with which the male is adorned. They are sea ducks and, while they are usually found to some extent on some of the larger lakes or ponds, during migrations, they are very abundant on the Atlantic coast. They are excellent swimmers and dive to great depths in search of food. It is said (Nelson) that in their summer home, during the mating season, they frequently dive under the water from the air, a habit that none of the other ducks, except rarely the Pintail, indulge in.
Notes.—A confused, but rather musical gabbling.
Nest.—On the ground near water; thickly lined with downy feathers; eggs laid in June.
Range.—Breeds from Labrador and Alaska northward; winters south to Long Island Sound and the upper Mississippi Valley.
