202 DuTCHER on the Labrador Duck. [April 



probable that the Labrador Duck was more numerous at the time 

 when Wilson and Audubon wrote of it, than during the subse- 

 quent period when it appeared to be more plenty, yet, I think my 

 explanation of their apparent increase is the true one, and, even 

 at the date when they w^ere seemingly becoming more numerous, 

 they were on the verge of their disappearance, for during the 

 period from iS6o to 1S70, when an active lookout was kept for 

 them, none could be obtained. 



Through the courtesy of those whose reminiscences are herein 

 recorded I am able to present something of the life history of Canip- 

 tolaimtis labradorius, and, through much painstaking research 

 on the part of others, a comparatively full history of the known 

 specimens. At this point I wish to express my thanks to all who 

 have so kindly aided me in this compilation. 



In case it proves true that the species is extinct, we can only 

 hope that some further specimens may be discovered in out-of- 

 the-way places and securely preserved in public collections. 

 That some have been so secured during the past decade is well 

 known, and it may be the good fortune of some student of orni- 

 thology to serve science in a like manner in the future. It seems 

 very likely that so striking a bird as C. labradori/ts \\ou\d be 

 selected for preservation by sportsmen, and professional and ama- 

 teur gunners, for ornamental purposes and as trophies of shooting 

 excursions. Scattered along the eastern coast of North America, 

 from the Capes of the Delaware northward, are thousands of pre- 

 served specimens of game birds, waders, and waterfowl, and also 

 birds rare and curious to the owners ; among these the search must 

 be made. It is the practise of the compiler to examine all such 

 collections that come under his notice and it has been his good 

 fortune to discover, and in some cases to secure, very many inter- 

 esting specimens as the result of this delving among the posses- 

 sions of the curious. 



The first published list of specimens of the Labrador Duck 

 appeared in 1S77, in Rowley's 'Miscellany.'* As this list forms 

 the basis of my work it will be given in full hereafter. Mr. 

 Charles B. Cory, in his ' Beautiful and Curious Birds, 'f revised 



*Ornithological Miscellany. Edited by George Dawson Rowley, M. A., F. L. S., 

 F. Z. S. Part VI, London, January, 1877, pp. 205-223, with 6 pi. 



tBeautiful and Curious Birds of the World. By Charles B. Cory, F. L. S.. F. Z. S., 

 etc., Boston, 1881, Part IV. 



