I98 Jon. Ducks of Plymouth Co.. Mass. [£j£ 



Enquiry is often made as to the further course of those fowl that 

 fly into this great bay from the north. I am unable at present to 

 say how many of them follow the curve of the Cape back around 

 Provincetown. But I know that a great many do not go around, 

 but fly over the peninsula, notably at the narrows adjoining 

 Buzzard's Bay, at Barnstable, and at Orleans into Chatham Bay. 

 On clear clays and moonlight nights they fly high, but it is other- 

 wise in thick or stormy weather, when they are shot in transit 

 from elevated spots, such as ' Shoot-flying Hill,' West Barnstable. 

 In the spring flight many that do not go around the Cape enter 

 Buzzard's Bay, and, crossing at the l Narrows,' fly up the Ply- 

 mouth shore past Manomet. 



On the coast the autumn flight is observed to begin the last of 

 August with the Scoters, the tide of migration increasing grad- 

 ually to its height, which is from about October 20 to early Nov- 

 vember. By the last of the month the migration is about over. 

 In the spring the return movement is noted by the last of March, 

 the period of greatest abundance being early April, perhaps from 

 the 5th to the 10th. The several Scoters are the last of the 

 Fuligulinit, lingering into May, sometimes collecting in great 

 ' beds ' to feed protractedly. Such a case was noted off Plymouth 

 Harbor, April and May, 1894, when several thousand Scoters 

 were estimated to be feeding on those flats. 



Some account must now be given of the fresh water resorts. 

 Southern Plymouth County is well termed the ' Lake Region of 

 Massachusetts.' It is full of ponds, and is drained mainly by 

 the Taunton River and its tributaries. The largest bodies of 

 fresh water in the State are found here. Assowompsett Pond, 

 the greatest in area, is a broad oval sheet, shallow, three miles 

 long by two across. The next is Long Pond, close by, four miles 

 long by over a mile in width. These and a number of others 

 comprise a distinct group, known as the Lakeville Ponds. East- 

 ward, in the southern part of old Plymouth town, a region of 

 veritable wilderness, is another large group. Then, north and 

 west, in Kingston, Halifax and vicinity, is still another group, the 

 largest being Monponsett Pond and Silver Lake, the latter a noted 

 spot for shooting geese. Many of the Fuligulinae daily enter 

 these ponds lying near the coast to obtain fresh water and to feed. 



