84 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



individual, probably the male, occasionally may be seen billing 

 and fondling the head of another individual associated with it 

 in the water. They feed on a great variety of vegetable 

 matter, tender roots and buds of aquatic plants, grass roots in 

 the meadows, and insects, being also decidedly partial to frogs, 

 tadpoles and even small minnows. I have known individuals 

 to so gorge themselves with huckleberries in late August that 

 they would go to sleep under the bushes near the water, and 

 one which I started from under my feet in this condition when 

 I too was after huckleberries was unable to fly it was so gorged, 

 but it managed to scramble into the water and swim away, dis- 

 gorging itself until finally able to rise and fly away, all the 

 time quaking incessantly. 



A family group, composed of the parent and young is a 

 most delightful sight, the mother swimming along with the ten- 

 der young, they diving when she does, and if desperately 

 pressed by danger seeking safety under the lily pads, where the 

 only evidence of young birds is a slight hump in the pad. I 

 have found young one-third grown ashore in the meadows, and 

 though they were pursued through the bushes they were too 

 quick to be caught. 



133a. Anas ohscura ruhripes Brewster. Red-legged Black 



Duck. 



Adult plumage : similar to that of the Black Duck ; readily distinguished 

 by its bright red legs and clear yellow bill ; size generally larger. Wing 1.60 

 to 1.70 ; culmen 2.10 ; tarsus 1.68. 



Geog. Dist. — Breeding range probably Hudson Bay Region and northern 

 Labrador, westward through the northern interior ; in migration or in winter 

 along the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Virginia, and in the interior 

 as far south and west as Arkansas. 



County Records. — Cumberland; wintering about Portland, (Brownson, 

 J. M. O. S. 1905, p. 28). Hancock ; locally common fall to spring along coast 

 in large flocks, (Knight). Oxford ; earliest date seen at Umbagog Lake, 

 September 28, 1889, usually not seen until about October 8, after which it 

 becomes common, (Brewster, Auk 1902, p. 183 etseq.). Penobscot; migrant 

 in late October, (Knight). Waldo ; fall to spring, locally common in flocks 

 in Penobscot River and Bay, (Knight). 



