Oldsquaw

Winter nor'westers flattened the surf along Great South Beach and OLDSQUAWS came in so close to shore that we often stalked them.

Reaching a dune in line with the birds we waited until they dove, then ran toward them, stopping and crouching when we thot they were due to come to the surface. The point of the chase was to estimate correctly their time under water — if they appeared while we were running, the game was up.

Two or three runs brot us close to the water's edge and when a bird came up it usually left the surface and offered a fair shot. When three or four were down, the canoe was launched and the game retrieved.

Hundreds fell in the Bay during daylight, flying seaward at sunset. They always followed the channel and swung past the inlet point so low that I have had to dip in the blind for fear one of the meteors would hit me. Their speed was terrific — they buzzed past like cannonballs and a collision would have been as effective as one of those missiles — as far as I was concerned. Once I killed three birds in a flock which had passed and altho they were not six feet above the sand, the nearest victim was sixty paces from the blind!

Their indifference to cold is astonishing and when spray freezes instantly on any object it touches, merry flocks of Oldsquaws play in the oceans without an icicle on their feathers.

They are the most vigorous and hardy of our Ducks, perhaps, and certainly the most talkative. Their notes have been interpreted variously into words. To me they seem to be continually informing one another — "You're the oldest! I'm the youngest!"

Among their other accomplishments is deep diving — 150 feet in fresh water, victims having been caught in nets at that depth.

With the males, courtship antics are horizontal wagging of the raised tail and pursuit of the female into water from the air. Their trick of towering, circling up almost out of sight and whistling down in erratic curves is unique among Ducks. In appearance and habits Oldsquaws occupy a distinctive niche in the Bird World.