BIRDS OF THE CAMBRIDGE REGION. 119 



constantly diving, often within gun-siiot of, and sometimes almost beneath, the 

 bridges. I do not know just how late into the spring they continue to frequent 

 these waters, but I seldom see them there after the 8th or lOth of April. On 

 July 26, 1889, however, I noticed a single bird diving near the West Boston 

 Bridge. It was probably a crippled or a barren individual which had failed to go 

 north at the usual time and was passing the summer in the neighborhood. 



Whistlers also resort to the tidal reaches of Charles River between Old 

 Cambridge and Watertown, as well as to Fresh, Spy and the Mystic Ponds. At 

 Fresh Pond they used to occur only occasionally, during the autumn migration, 

 but since 1890 their visits have increased in frequency, and at the present time 

 they may be often seen in small numbers in November and December ; even 

 in midwinter, when the pond is covered with ice, they sometimes alight in the 

 open water about a fountain through which the pipe from Stony Brook Reser- 

 voir enters Fresh Pond. 



^;^. Charitonetta albeola (Linn.). 



BUFFLE-HEAD. BuTTER-BALL. 



Transient visitor in autumn (and winter?). 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. 



October 20, 1868, one im. male taken, Fresh Pond, W. Brewster. 



October 30 — November 15. (Winter?) 

 November 27, 1867, one seen, Spy Pond, W. Brewster. 



The pretty little Buffle-head used to occur quite regularly, if somewhat 

 sparingly, in autumn, appearing late in October or early in November with 

 the first hard frosts and, like the Dumb-birds, usually alighting well out from 

 shore in our larger ponds. Even in the earlier years of my shooting experience 

 it was far from numerous. Indeed I have never known more than eight or ten 

 birds to be killed during a single season in Fresh Pond which has always been 

 one of their favorite resorts in this neighborhood. I have seen them in Spy 

 Pond, and on November 2, 1891, I found a single bird swimming and diving 

 in a small ice-pond lying at the foot of Prospect Hill, Waltham. According 

 to Mr. John H. Hardy, Jr., the Butter-ball has been taken in the Mystic Ponds, 

 and Mr. W. A. Jeffries tells me that he picked up a wounded bird in the Back 

 Bay Basin about thirty-five years ago and that he has seen others there in late 

 autumn, but never in winter. In December, 1903, however, a female or young 



