560 General Notes. [ < A ,", k 



LOct. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



European Widgeon on Long Island in Winter. — On January 11, 

 1919, Mr. Wm. de Forest Haynes of New York City shot a fine drake of 

 this rare duck, Mareca penelope, on the main pond of the Southside Club 

 near Oakdale, Long Island. The specimen was mounted, and is now in 

 the club collection in the clubhouse. This is the third winter record, and 

 I am indebted to Mr. Samuel Bettle for bringing it to my attention.— 

 Ludlow Griscom, New York City. 



Breeding of the Black Duck in Lake Co., Ohio. — Dawson in hia 

 ' Birds of Ohio,' states, " If Black Ducks formerly bred in the northern 

 part of this state, as Wheaton supposes, they were probably of this form " 

 (Anas rubrijses tristis). Jones, ' Catalogue of Ohio Birds' (1903), states, 

 " Dr. Wheaton regarded the Black Duck as a casual summer resident in 

 the northern part of the state, but I find no corroborative evidence to that 

 effect." In the same writer's article, ' Nineteen Years of Bird Migration at 

 Oberlin, O.' (Wilson Bulletin, December, 1914), the Black Duck is listed 

 as a migrant only for Lorain County. Henninger in ' Notes on Some Ohio 

 Birds ' (Auk, January, 1910) gives a list of breeding ducks for the state, but 

 the Black Duck is not included, nor have I found any isolated record of the 

 Black Duck nesting in Ohio. Thus it seems the state is without an authen- 

 tic record, the only evidence being Wheaton's supposition. 



Therefore I am pleased to report that the Black Duck has nested regu- 

 larly the past five years at the Mentor Marsh, and doubtless much longer 

 than this. Adults have been seen in June, and both young and adults 

 through July and August. Probably not over two pair have bred in any one 

 year, as a late August flock of twenty-five was the most seen at any one time. 

 Two specific dates upon which I observed young ducks under unusually 

 favorable conditions are as follows: August 16, 1917, four young birds 

 had fed out of the lily pads into open water that touched the base of the 

 wooded bank skirting the marsh, and I worked slowly down to within 

 twenty feet of them, seated myself and watched them for half an hour with 

 my glass without them appearing disturbed in any way, although fully 

 grown and able to fly. Under such favorable circumstances, I was even 

 able to see the narrow edge of white, back of the violet-purple speculum, each 

 time one chanced to turn on its side and spread a wing. 



July 13, 1919, I flushed two young, about two-thirds grown, from under 

 my very feet at the edge of the marsh. These also gave me the best pos- 

 sible view of the wing marks. 



Another pleasing experience happened the last week in August, 1918, 

 about dusk. Immature Black Ducks were coming from the direction of 

 the Mentor Marsh to drop into the more open water of the Richmond 

 swamp to feed. A pair of wary old adults, however, would not alight for 



