Vol 'i9^ XV ] Mousley, Birds of Hatley, Quebec. 295 



seventy-five feet of line out, when it suddenly made a dive and flew off 

 with the minnow carrying the entire line out of the water. This operation 

 was repeated with two other minnows. I finally changed my bass hook for 

 a small minnow or bait hook, and on the fourth try I hooked the bird and 

 reeled it into the boat where it fought and struggled hard to get away, but 

 it was well hooked. I put it in my bait can and took it alive to the taxi- 

 dermist, and it now occupies a place over my mantelpiece at Yonkers. It 

 was a very interesting and unusual catch, and few of my friends would 

 believe that I captured the bird on a fish hook, setting it down for simply 

 another one of those fish stories." 



127. Larus argentatus (Pontoppidan). Herring Gull. — Not un- 

 common fall transient. Mr. Greer tells me this gull is fairly common 

 in the fall on Lake Massawippi, and he has mounted several examples 

 for various people. Mr. W. Bassett of North Hatley has one which he tells 

 me he shot at North Hatley in November, 1911 or 1912. 



128. Mergus americanus (Cassin). American Merganser. — Not 

 uncommon transient. October 11, December 6. On the above date in 

 October, 1916, a head and neck only of a female merganser was given to me, 

 the bird having been shot on the same day on the river Coaticook near 

 Compton about seven miles from Hatley. On measuring the distance 

 from the nostril to the end of the bill I found it to be 1.30 inches, and from 

 the rear of the nostril to the lore feathers .55 of an inch, thus proving it to be 

 one of the above species and not a Red-breasted Merganser. Mr. Greer 

 has a mounted head and neck of a male in his collection which was shot on 

 Lake Massawippi, and on December 6, 1917, I saw a small flock of seven on 

 this same lake, one of which, a female, was shot a few days after, and 

 shown to me by Mr. Greer in the flesh on December 12. This bird 

 weighed 3 lbs. Mr. Stephen Clarke of Hatley Centre has a female 

 mounted example of this species, or at least one of his sons has it now, and 

 which I saw on December 13, 1917. 



129. Mergus serrator (Linnaeus). Red-breasted Merganser. — 

 Not common transient. December 6. This Merganser is decidedly rarer 

 than the preceding one, Mr. Greer telling me that previous to this year, he 

 can only call to mind having mounted two examples. On the above date 

 in December, 1917, I saw three examples on Lake Massawippi at North 

 Hatley, one of which, a female, was shot on the following day by Mr. V. 

 Thomas of North Hatley, on the Massawippi River just below North 

 Hatley, and this bird Mr. Greer showed me on December 12, just after he 

 had mounted it. I took the measurement from the nostril to the end of 

 the bill and found it to be practically If inches. 



130. Lophodytes cucullatus (Linnaeus). Hooded Merganser. — 

 Rare transient. My authority for including this species in my list rests 

 on a female example which Mr. Greer tells me he mounted some years ago, 

 the exact records of which are unfortunately not to hand, but as far as he 

 can remember, the bird was either shot or caught in a muskrat trap at Little 

 Magog Lake. 



