241 The long flight back 



nineteenth probably resulted in its extinction; but no one, now 

 living, knows to a certainty that it bred in Labrador. John W. 

 Audubon was shown nests at Blanc Sablon that were said to be 

 those of this species. Newton writes that it was common in sum- 

 mer on the coast of Labrador until about 1842. Major King 

 writes (1886) that it was common on the northern shore of the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence and bred there, but gives no dates. I 

 have seen no other evidence of its breeding in Labrador. There 

 are no definite records of its nesting, and not one of its eggs 

 is in existence. It may have bred much farther north but so 

 far the records show that no one has ever seen it to the north- 

 ward. We must be satisfied, then, with the probable explana- 

 tion that, like the great auk, the species bred more or less locally 

 and was exterminated in much the same way. 



But there was an interesting difference in the original distribu- 

 tion of the great auk and the Labrador duck, as pointed out re- 

 cently by Amadon: 



The Labrador duck is apparently the only bird whose range 

 was restricted to the American coast of the North Atlantic. 

 The other coastal species of this area nest also in northwestern 

 Europe, in Iceland, or in other areas. . . . [To which he adds:] 

 Examination of distributional data will often provide a clue to 

 the extinction or near extinction of certain species. The Labra- 

 dor duck is a case in point. Bent (1925) and others have cor- 

 rectly stated that the presumed small size of the breeding range 



of this duck made it especially vulnerable to persecution 



Persecution by man led to speedy extinction. 



Forbush also quoted Elliot who said that between 1860 and 1870 

 he saw 



... a considerable number of the species in the New York 

 markets, but that a full-plumaged male was exceedingly rare, 

 although no one imagined that the species was on the verge 

 of extinction. The last Labrador duck on record died by the 

 hand of man near Long Island, New York, in 1875. According 

 to Butcher's summary, there are only forty-two recorded speci- 



