I04 



MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



the safe asylum which it afforded by day, and at night he probably accompanied 

 the Black Ducks to their feeding grounds in the tidal creeks of the Revere or 

 Lynn Marshes, while it is not improbable that he spent both winters with them 

 off the neighboring coast. 



Mr. Walter Faxon tells me that a gunner of his acquaintance killed a 

 Mallard in one of the Mystic Ponds a few years ago, and Mr. John H. Hardy, 

 Jr., includes the species in a list of the water-fowl which he has shot at Great 

 Meadow. 



20. Anas obscura Gmel. 

 Black Duck. 



Very common transient visitor in spring and autumn and not uncommon summer resident. 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. 



March 15 — November I. 



NESTING DATE. 



April ig, 1897, nest and thirteen eggs, Pout Pond Swamp, O. A. Lothrop. 



21. Anas obscura rubripes Brewst. 

 Red-legged Black Duck. 



Of abundant occurrence during the migrations in late autumn and early spring ; also resi- 

 dent in large numbers on our seacoast during the entire winter, visiting Fresh Pond daily 

 whenever its waters are not closed by ice. 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. 



October 20 — March 15. 



Unlike most of our water-fowl the Black Duck does not appear to have 

 diminished greatly in numbers during the past thirty years. It is a singularly 

 intelligent bird, and, despite its excessive shyness and its preference for remote 

 solitudes, it is quick to perceive that the safest asylums may sometimes be found 

 in places much frequented by man and constantly disturbed by sights and 



