246 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



nested much southward of the present limits of their 

 migrations in spring. Indefinite references to " wild 

 fowl" in summer in old colonial records and travel- 

 lers' journals and some manuscript records, seem 

 to imply that many ducks were to be seen about our 

 large watercourses during what is now their nesting 

 season. 



The single duck that may be said to be a fixed 

 resident is the Wood-duck, and it is highly probable 

 that these birds were once extremely abundant and 

 went about in flocks. The mallard and black duck, 

 the gadwall and possibly the teal were resident to 



Golden-eyed Duck. 



some extent in the seventeenth century, and the first 

 two named are still found breeding south of Canada. 

 That some non-mated ducks are always about, even in 

 summer, is unquestionable. It occasionally happens 

 that long after the migratory ducks have gone north, 



