302 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Sept. 



the water ; and I really think the nearer you are to them the more 

 likely are they to evade the shot, but, of course, everything depends 

 on the day ; if dull and cloudy, or with snow on the ground, they 

 dive at the flash with the rapidity of lightning, while on bright 

 sunny days they are shot as easily as any non-diving birds. On 

 the 12th of October, 1867, 1 killed two males of this species at a 

 shot. It was a lovely day, frosty in the morning but the 

 thermometer marked 50 degrees Fahr. at noon, and the ducks 

 which were fishins; side by side, at the distance of about forty yards, 

 made no attempt to dive. " Old Wife " is another provincial 

 name for this species. 



Labrador Duck. Camptolaemus labradorius {Gmelirt). — Pro- 

 bably occurs on some parts of the coast, but I did not meet with 

 it during my stay at Cow Head. 



Velvet Duck, Melanetta velvetina (Cassin). — Common, and 

 probably breeds on the island, as individuals may be seen 

 throughout the summer; although supposing the birds to assume 

 the adult plumage the second year, which I have reason to doubt 

 they may be non-breeding birds, as they certainly do not breed 

 until the third year. Provincial name " Whitewinged diver." 



JSurf Duck, Pelionetta perspicillata (^Linn.) — Common, 

 especially during the migratory season. The remarks on the 

 plumage and breeding habits of the preceding species applies 

 equally to this and the following species. Provincial names 

 '' Bottle-nosed diver " and " Bald coot." 



American Scoter, (Edemia americana (Swainson). — Very 

 common throughout the year; at least until driven from the 

 coast by drift ice, which is not usual until the first week in 

 January. It is called the "sleepy diver" and " little black 

 diver " when adult, by the settlers. 



American Eider Duck,^ Somateria mollissima ? (^Linn). — By 

 far the most abundant species of duck in Newfoundland, but not 

 60 plentiful now as a few years since, owing in a measure to an 

 increase in population, but more particularly to a wholesale robbery 

 of eggs which is carried on with impunity from the islands along 

 the coast, and others in the straits of Labrador and Belle Isle. 



* Professor ISTewton is of opiuion that the American eider diflTers from 

 the Em-opeau far more strikingly than do some other so-called 

 American species of ducks (especially the genus (Edemia), and I quite 

 agree with him. — H. R. 



