IO Dutcher on the Labrador Duel:. \_X\x\ 



Cause of Extinction, — Professor Newton thinks it was 

 owing to the persecutions of man during the nesting period, and 

 also by reason of its not having a high northern range where it 

 would, presumably, be free from such attacks. There is abso- 

 lutely nothing known of the exact distribution of the species, nor 

 of its breeding habits. In the literature on C. labradorius there 

 is not a single fact relative to the above points given ; all that has 

 been written is conjecture. If so, why may we not consider 

 that it did have a high northern range? Our President, Dr. 

 Coues, in his 'Notes on the Ornithology of Labrador,' made in 

 i860, 1 says: "I was informed that though it was rarely seen in 

 summer, it is not an uncommon bird in Labrador during the 

 fall." This certainly points to a migration to Labrador, in the 

 fall, from some other point further north. Its nearest relatives 

 breed much further north than Labrador, and why not labra- 

 dorius? The only statement we have as to its nesting habits is 

 from Audubon, a whose son was shown nests on the top of the 

 low, tangled, fir bushes which he was informed were those of the 

 Pied Duck. If this is a fact, this species was free from the 

 depredations of foxes and other carnivorous animals, and man 

 only could cause its disappearance. The appearance of this 

 species, and what little we know of it habits, 8 tell us that it must 

 have been a strong, swift flyer and thus able to protect itself from 

 man after it had obtained maturity. We can speculate as to the 

 cause of its disappearance, but we have no facts to warrant a 

 conclusion. 



Since the publication of my 'Revised List' (1891), two north- 

 ern exploring expeditions have been made, and with both of them 

 I sent copies of the plates of the Labrador Duck which appeared 

 with the 'List.' The route of the expedition under the auspices 

 of Bowdoin College was along the northeast shore of Labrador 

 during part of July, August and until September 2, 1891. A 

 party of four left the main body at Hamilton Inlet (Lake Mel- 

 ville), and penetrated the interior some 300 miles from the coast. 

 The main party did not see nor hear anything of the species. 

 On August 9, when some 200 miles up the Grand River, Mr. 



1 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1861, p. 239. 



2 'The Birds of America,' 8vo. ed., Vol. VI, p. 329 (1843). 



3 See 'Revised List,' Auk, Vol. VIII, p. 216. 



