66 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



come extinct, and if they have, the cause thereof is a problem most desirable 

 to solve, as it vs^as surely not through man's agency, as in the case of the 

 great auk. 



Dr. D. G. Elliot (1898) saw a considerable number of Labrador 

 ducks, mostly females and young males, in the New York markets 

 between 1860 and 1870, but full plumaged males were exceedingly 

 rare. 



George A. Boardman endeavored to get some specimens for Doctor 

 Elliot from his collectors about Grand Manan, but found that these 

 ducks had all gone ; the last one taken in that vicinity was shot by 

 S. F. Cheney in April. 1871 ; this specimen was sent, by Mr. Board- 

 man, to John Wallace, of New York, to be mounted for the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, but, not knowing its value, Wallace parted with 

 .the skin, and all trace of it was lost. The last specimen taken and 

 preserved was shot on Long Island in the fall of 1875, purchased, 

 from J. G. Bell, by George N. Lawrence and presented by him to the 

 Smithsonian Institution; it was a young male and possibly its 

 parents or others of the same brood may have survived for a few 

 years; but probably the Labrador duck became an extinct species 

 at about that time. 



Since then only one specimen has been recorded as taken: Dr. 

 W. H. Gregg (1879) reported the capture of a Labrador duck, near 

 Elmira, New York, on December 12. 1878 ; the duck had been eaten 

 before he heard about it and he was able to procure and save only 

 the head and neck; these remnants were preserved for some years, 

 but finally lost; it is unfortuate that this recoi*d can not now be 

 verified. 



William Dutcher (1891. 1893. and 1894) has made a careful study 

 of the records relating to the Labrador duck and a thorough investi- 

 gation as to the number of specimens in existence, so far as known, 

 in American and European collections. He published a number of 

 papers on the subject and finally succeeded in locating, up to 1894, 

 only 42 specimens, 31 of which were in American collections at that 

 time. How many specimens have come to this country since. I have 

 made no effort to determine. Many specimens were shipped abroad 

 between 1840 and 1850, which have not been located, and some may 

 turn up later in private collections. J. H. Gurney (1897) recorded 

 a specimen in the museum at Amiens in France, which was ap- 

 parently unknown to Mr. Dutcher; this, with one since discovered 

 by Winthrop S. Brooks (1912) in the Boston Society of Natural 

 History, brings the published record of specimens up to 44. 



There has been considerable speculation among ornithological 

 writers as to the causes which led to the disappearance of this 

 species, which was apparently as well fitted to survive as several 

 other species of ducks. It was a swift flyer, rather shy and diffi- 



