39 



by Dr. Arthur A. Allen of Cornell University, one female 

 Canvasback and one male Scaup were observed to poke their 

 heads through wire netting under water and drown in this 

 position at a depth of 2 feet or more. When taken out they 

 did not seem to be definitely caught in any way. He does not 

 believe that the birds voluntarily remained under water until 

 death, but that this happened because of fatigue and fright, or, 

 what is more likely, weakness due to starvation, as the lake 

 was heavily frozen over in parts. These were the only two 

 casualties of this nature that he noticed. Mr. Mark Sprague 

 of Belleville, Ontario, has known a wounded Black Duck to 

 dive and to be caught in weeds on the bottom and thus drown 

 and remain there. Mr. M. R. Cheeseman says that on sev- 

 eral occasions he has wounded ducks which were found clinging 

 to weeds on the bottom; also he has chased and caught many 

 young ducks clinging to weeds under water, but not one of 

 these ducks was dead when taken. Mr. John Burnham, San 

 Diego, California, writes me that at Heron Lake, Minnesota, 

 and at Warner Hot Springs, San Diego, he has taken wounded 

 Ruddy Ducks that clung to some object on the bottom until 

 death, and that at Heron Lake he took a Canvasback in the 

 same way. Mr. Kenneth C. Gurney reports that in 1904 he 

 was hunting with Mr. G. L. Stevenson of Norway, Maine, and 

 they wounded a Black Duck which when approached dived 

 near the shore where a lot of white birch tops had fallen into the 

 water. Mr. Stevenson from the bow of the canoe saw the bird 

 with its head thrust in among the branches, but apparently it 

 was not holding on by the bill. It was about 2^ feet under 

 water. The bird finally came to the surface alive. Mr. Ludlow 

 Griscom says that he has twice seen wounded Pintails and 

 Green-winged Teals cling to the bottom, but that they finally 

 let go and did not drown. In each case the water was quite 

 shallow. 



Dr. Thomas S. Roberts, Director, Zoological Museum, Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota, says that three times he has known birds 

 to cling to some object on the bottom once a male Mallard, 

 once a Red-head, and once a Coot or Mud-hen. All these cases 

 were in the vicinity of Minneapolis. He pulled all of the birds 

 from their grip on lily leaf-stems or grass at the bottom. The 



