Evening star., 1924-08-03
BY FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY

pointed to by the sign, North
" American waterfowl'-at the
west end of the bridge
near the Harvard street Zoo gate
may well ask: Whats the matter
with the ducks? Where have all the
handsome drake mallards, shovelers
and wood ducks gone, and what are
those strange spotted looking ducks?"
The answer is a simple one, but
it opens a fascinating chapter in the
book of nature-a chapter on natures
protecting care Of her wild children.
The ducks are going into what is
called eclipse plumage.
With the sun and moon, eclipse is
merely a casual matter of the move
ments of the heavenly bodies. With
the ducks, it is a matter Of life or
death. of protection from enemies
during the most dangerous period in
the lives of the brilliantly colored
brakes.
Other birds molt their wing quiils
| a few at a time so that it doesn't in
terfere with their fight, but the
ducks lose all their wing quilts at
once and can't fly until they have
grown out again.
During this period when the con-
| spicuous plumage of the f1ightless
birds would make them the easy prey
! of their enemies, they go into eclipse,
| lose their usual striking colors and
! markings, and assume an incon-
| spicuous or eclipse plumage At the
same time they generally retreat to
reedy marshes or other protected
| quiet waters where, unable to fly.
| they can swim to safe cover.
Meanwhile, their dull-colored
| mates, left alone to raise the broods.
| in some cases almost from the shell.
do not become f1ightless until their
young are at least partly able to care
for hemselves-another important
provision of nature.
In the Zoo, where there is little
| need for protection from enemies. so
| firmly has the habit become estab-
lished through ages of evolution
that the protectively colored plumage
| is still assumed by the brakes for
their fligh,tless period.
1t is assumed irregularly, however
Now, while some of the green-winged
teal, pintails, scaups, widgeons, bald
pates. redheads and canvasbacks are
almost or wholly unchanged. you
may look the pond over for a mallard,
a shoveler or wood duck in the
| handsome familiar plumage and en-
counter all sorts of matley wear
Most of the mallards, when found,
| partly by the help of their narrow.
| greenish yellow bills have lost al
most all the rich green of the head.
| characteristic curled-up tail feathers.
being a thickly marked brown. very
good for purposes of disguise. Some
| still have the curled-up tail feathers.
greatly to the relief of confused
| observer who said that was what she
always told them by. One that was
seen summing himself on an island.
with wing outstretched, still had the
white e-bordered bright purple patch
or speculum. but that will probably
soon be gone, for a time at least
The shovelers, in which the eclipse
was first noted in dark blotches on
| the white breast, now have little but
their former selves.
The wood duck, whose coat of many
| colors is one of the wonders of the
| bird world. is now one of the plainest
of birds, with only his red eyes, a
| touch of red on the bill. part of his
| fn l.;
marks to name him.
Enough of the canvasbacks still
| have the wide white canvas body
| band for contrast with those of their
| kind which have lost it, but in most
OF them both the canvas and the red
dish head are dulling. and in a num-
| Der the curious spotty eclipse seems
| complete. In this case the bill identi-
fies them-a long, almost straight
line continuous with that from the
top of the forehead-suggestin the
line of the nose in a Greek profile
| In marked contrast to the short bill
starting from the middle Of the fore
head in the puffy-headed redhead, a
close relative in the diving sea duck
tribe
Many of the pintails have lost. or
are losing the long white finger
mark seen when they stretch their
long necks above the wheat in the
Dakotas, and some of the little
green-winged teal are losing the
pretty brown OF their heads. as are
the baldpates and wfdgeons the white
streak up the forehead.
In looking across the pond at the
| fiaglike tails sticking up above the
| water while. their surface-feedine g
river owners are standing on theiz
heads feeding below-kicking then
webbed feet comically so that they
shall not lose their balance-you are
struck by the absence of black
patches and striking markings which
at other times of the year enable
birds OF feather to keep together
even when their bodies are under
water; but now, what's in name?
No time should be lost in going to
the duck pond If you would watch the
progress OF this marvellous eclipse