" 1912 J Cahn, The Freezing of Cayuga Lake. 443 



the ice a distance of sixty yards, where they lit, and immediately assumed 

 a resting posture. Two of these ducks were captured alive, both being 

 taken almost as easily as one would take an apple from the ground. The 

 first made one feeble flight when approached, but that was all. He was 

 followed and picked up off the ice without a struggle. The second was 

 taken from the ice without having made any attempt to fly. The condi- 

 tion of both of these birds was pitiful, to say the least. Hardly able to 

 stand erect, and too feeble to mind what was going on around them, they 

 sat on the ice in a more or less dazed condition. The feathers were un- 

 preened, and those of the breast and belly were yellow and matted with 

 grease. Both of these birds were found on the ice of Fall Creek. There 

 are records of twenty-two Canvas-backs that were found dead within this 

 area. Allowing for those that were missed, it is highly probable that these 

 eight miles held about twenty-eight dead of this species, the per cent of 

 mortality being greater than in any other species. By the small pool of 

 open water at Ludlowville, three dead Canvas-backs, together with two 

 dead Bluebills, were found, as shown in the photograph. (Plate XX, Fig. 

 I). The stomachs examined contained nothing but pebbles, averaging 

 14.5 grams in weight. These ducks were woefully thin, being, in very 

 truth, nothing but " skin and bones." 



9. Marila marila. Scaup Duck, Bluebill. — The most abundant 

 duck seen on the lake during this period was the Bluebill. As a general 

 rule, these birds were found in flocks of various sizes, ranging from a few 

 individuals to four hundred, but single birds were found in the open water 

 of the various streams tributary to the lake. The largest flock seen was 

 just off Portland Point. This flock was discovered at rest upon the ice, 

 and so close together were they, and so numerous, that the birds gave the 

 appearance of a solid black line, and it was not until one had approached 

 to within one hundred yards of them that one could be sure that it was 

 indeed a flock of ducks. The birds were quite indifferent to being ap- 

 proached, and it was not until one was within two hundred feet of them 

 that they showed any signs of uneasiness. When within one hundred 

 feet, they rose slowly and flew some little distance down the lake, where 

 they settled once more into their compact formation. It was not until 

 they rose that one realized that there were easily over four hundred ducks 

 in the flock. It was all but impossible for these birds to rise clear of the ice. 

 The indifference shown toward unguarded approach, the reluctance with 

 which they rose, the short distance which they flew, in fact, their every 

 action bespoke exhaustion and weakness. In a small piece of open, 

 rapidly flowing water in Fall Creek, a female of this species was caught by 

 hand, without difficulty. The bird, too exhausted even to try to fly, could 

 make no headway against the current, and was therefore easily captured. 

 It was too weak to eat, and died within twenty-four hours. Two pecuUar 

 incidents with regard to Bluebills have been brought to my notice. One 

 specimen was found while still ahve, in which over half the webbing of 

 both feet had been frozen and dropped off. Another was found frozen in a 



