The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-03-01
the Methuselahs of the bird world.

the Methuselahs of the bird world.
There is actual record of mute
swan that lived seventy years, while
rather uncertain report has attributed
even a greater age to the birds.
Somewhat intermediate between
ducks and geese are the tree ducks.
They have only two representatives
north of the Mexico-U United States
boundary, and neither of these pene-
trates much to the north of this line.
Their name is misleading in our own
territory, as here we seldom see them
perching in trees and their nests are
on the ground.
The great group of ducks is divided
into two main sections, the surface
feeding and diving ducks. While these
names actually afford general basis
of distinction, it does not follow that
surface-feeders never dive for their
food, nor that diving ducks never feed
on the surface.
To separate the groups, look at the
foot. In the diving ducks, the hind
toe has a lobe, so that it resembles q
little paddle. In the surface feeding
group it is not particularly specialized.
How to Identify Ducks.
If sportsmen wish to identify the
ducks they shoot in all plumages, 1t is
essential that they recognize the dis
tinction between the two groups.
By the "hind-toe" formula, stiff
tailed ducks fall under the category Of
diving ducks but in many features OF
structure, plumage, and life characters
they are further removed from true
ducks than are the mergansers. The
sometimes pugnacious and somewhat
ludicrous-appearing rudy duck is the
sole representative of the stiff-tailed
ducks in the United States and Canada,
although a South American species, the
masked duck. has been twice recorded
in the eastern states as straggler.
Mergansers, the last of the duck
group, are ducks with narrow, spe-
cialized bill, edged with saw teeth,
which enable them to catch and devOur
good-sized fish. Their feet, though pro-
portionately smaller, resemble those Of
the diving ducks in having paddle
shaped hind toe.
Ducks, for the most part, are very
different from swans and geese in their
family habits. While they pair much
like other birds and are not as rule
polygamous or polyandrous, the male
in most species is not constant hus-
band, and abandons the female and all
family cares as soon as incubation OF
the eggs is well under way. Stiff
tailed ducks are notable exceptions to
this rule, and in some true ducks, like
the elders, the male IL not altogether
Indifferent to his family obligations.
A great divergence in the arrival of
maturity exists in the duck tribe.
Swans are not fully mature before their
fourth year; most geese probably nest
in their third year, while ducks of most
species usually pair and nest in the
spring following their Matching, or be-
fore they are year old. This has q
ulTGCI luHuCHSC uh IiiN holS VI kSPko-
duction in each species.
All the surface-feeding ducks nest
before they are one year old, although
this may not be universal in the case
of some species such as the pintail and
the widgeon.
A similar condition exists in most
diving ducks, but notable exceptions
are golden-eyes. buffleheads, harle-
ouins, and old-squaws, in which the
males do not acquire full plumage until
they are nearly two years old. In the
elders and scoters the adult stage is
still further delayed.
Labrador Duck Is Extinct.
Mention should be made of the ex-
tinct Labrador duck, CamptOrhynchus
labradorins, the last verified record of
which was a bird taken in 1875.
The passing of this species is mys-
terry which cannot be accounted for
even from the earliest days for which
we have any record of the bird, it was
a scarce species in the limited area of
its range on the North Atlantic coast.
Frequenting the shoal water of the
shallow bays, it could not have been in
much demand for food and few were
brought in to the markets. There is
no record of its nesting, nor even, with
any certainty, of its summer home.
Although 1t was diving duck, the pc
culiar shape of its bill suggests that II
sifted its food in shallow water.
OF all the questions relating to wild
fowl, the problem of their perpetuation
is the most important. Every one nat.
urally takes an interest in their con-
servation and wishes to see an increase
in their numbers. But unfortunately
there are two divergent schools at
work, one that wishes to protect wild
fowl from the viewpoint that they pro-
vide sport, and the opposite group that
insists they be protected vigorously and
all shooting be abolished. Between the
two extremes lie all shades Of com.
promise.
For the good of the wild fowl OF
| North America, it is essential that
these different views be reconciled, and
a concerted course of action that has
the support of all parties is unquestion
ably the goal for which we must strive
While the dire prophecies of the to-
/ tai determination of the ducks and
geese of North America are obviously
| the product Of distorted outlook, yet
action is required to cope with many
Of the dangers to which they are now
! subjected. %