114 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



Season. — From the middle of September to about the first week in April; 

 comparatively few winter. 



Range. — North America. Breeds from southern British Columbia and the 

 Hudson Bay country to southern California and southern Wisconsin; 

 winters from southern British Columbia, Maryland, Delaware and 

 Massachusetts south to southern Lower California and Florida. In 

 migration casual in Alaska and regular on the Atlantic coast north to 

 southern Labrador. 



History. 

 The Redhead somewhat resembles the Canvas-back, 

 though smaller, and when it has been feeding on wild celery 

 it is often sold under the name of Canvas-back. Elliot in 

 his Wild Fowl of North America (1898) states that the Red- 

 head was once very abundant in many parts of the continent, 

 but that constant persecution and indiscriminate slaughter 

 have greatly reduced its numbers throughout the land, and 

 that in many places where it was formerly abundant in winter 

 it no longer appears. All but three of my correspondents 

 (outside of Massachusetts) on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts 

 state that the Redhead is decreasing. The percentage of 

 decrease given varies from fifty to one hundred. The follow- 

 ing notes from authors seem to indicate a decrease of the 

 species in New England: Pretty abundant on our shores; 

 several individuals, both sexes, seen on Lake Umbagog in 

 June; not impossible it breeds in northern New England; 

 seen in various localities until first week in June (Samuels, 

 1870). Uncommon or rare in New England and adjacent 

 coast States (Chamberlain, 1891). Rare transient visitor 

 (Townsend, Essex County, 1905). Rather rare transient 

 visitor in autumn (Brewster, Cambridge region, 1906). The 

 Redhead seems never to have been very abundant generally 

 in Massachusetts. Audubon never saw it farther eastward, 

 and it is now found in considerable numbers in this State 

 mainly on the ponds of Martha's Vineyard, where the wild 

 celery and the redhead grass grow, or in a few of the land- 

 locked bays and the ponds of Cape Cod and Nantucket. 

 Observers report to me its presence in all the counties of 

 Massachusetts except Berkshire and Hampshire, but it is 

 generally regarded as rare and decreasing everywhere, except 



