^°^1910^'"] ^General Notes. 'J'J 



that Canvasbacks have so increased in numbers that marsh shooting is 

 neglected for the bay. All of these causes, however, operate to reduce 

 alike the take of Black Ducks and Mallards, both varieties being shot in the 

 same ponds on the marshes. The Black Duck is also a warier bird and 

 decoys less readily than any other species. Very few breed, but begin to 

 arrive early in September, a week or ten days ahead of the Mallards, and 

 remain to feed on the wild rice until winter sets in. 



While all ducks seem to have increased in numbers of late years, the 

 Canvasback is the most notable example. It has always in numbers 

 frequented the celery bays, but commencing with 1902 it has been repre- 

 sented each autumn in most extraordinary numbers. During the past 

 eight years — 1902 to 1909 — the number taken at the Club at Monroe, 

 Michigan, is nearly three times as great as taken in the preceding eight 

 years • — 1894 to 1901, and this in view of the fact that during most of the 

 later period the law has limited the daily bag to twenty-five, while in the 

 earlier period there was no limit but conscience. There were, as stated 

 before, also fewer gunners. 



The first Canvasbacks arrive from the north about October 15 and 

 remain until the first severe cold. In 1904 they were in such great num- 

 bers that after eating all the celery from the bay they frequented the 

 larger ponds in the marsh, something not previously known to occur. — 

 Harold Herrick, Nexv York City. 



A Small Flight of Gadwalls {Chaulelasmus streperus) near New York. — 

 Early in the morning of October 16, 1909, my young friends Allan and 

 James Hand were watching at a pond on the salt marshes near Lawrence, 

 L. I. About sunrise a flock of seven odd looking ducks circled the pond 

 several times and finally six of them came to the decoys, four being shot. 

 The boys remained an hour or so longer, seeing two or three more flocks 

 that they felt sure were the same kind of duck, but none came near enough 

 for positive identification. They brought the birds to me — to be identi- 

 fied as young Gadwalls, rather poor in flesh, their average w'eight being 

 under twenty-four ounces. The best one I preserved. 



My friend Col. Franklin Brandreth of Ossining, N. Y., tells me of a single 

 specimen brought to him, that was killed near that place about October 29, 

 1909. 



The marshes of Lake Erie are the nearest points to Long Island where the 

 Gadwall is regularly found, and there they are not very common. The 

 carefully kept record of a shooting club at the western end of the lake shows 

 that in twenty-one years, to 1908, but one has been taken in each two 

 hundred ducks, or about one-half per cent, of the total score. This year 

 (1909), however, they were more abundant than usual, I personally secur- 

 ing eleven specimens, which is exactly the same number I have secured, 

 in the aggregate, on the same marshes, during the previous eighteen years. 

 — Harold Herrick, New York City. 



