180 THE ANGLER AX1) HUNTSMAN 



ing is now forbidden and this deplorable slaughter has 

 ceased, or has been materially lessened. 



The mallard winters casually in eastern Massachusetts 

 and central New York, accidentally in Nova Scotia, and 

 regularly from Virginia to northern Florida. It is less 

 common in Central Florida, and has been recorded in the 

 Bermudas, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Grenada, Carriacou, 

 Panama, and Costa Rica. Most of these localities have had 

 but one or two records each, showing that the mallard is only 

 a straggler to the southeast of the United States. It has 

 never been known, or at least, is not recorded from Central 

 America from Costa Rica to Mexico. The species is a com- 

 mon winter resident of northern Mexico and ranges south 

 to Jalapa, the valley of Mexico, Colima, and southern end of 

 Lower California. 



The northern winter limit of the mallard in the interior 

 is in Ohio, northern Indiana, southern Wisconsin, Nebraska, 

 AVyoming, and central Montana. It is also a common win- 

 ter resident along the whole Pacific coast as far north as the 

 Aleutian Islands. 



Black Duck: 



The group of "Anas obscura" or "black and dusky" 

 ducks comprises several species which resemble each other 

 closely and which have only in late years been distinguish- 

 ed intelligently. The black duck is the. common breeding 

 duck of New England and northern New York. 



This species spends the winter rarely in the West In- 

 dies, Bermudas, in central Florida and also in Alabama. 

 From Georgia northward it is more common, and from 

 North Carolina to New Jersey it is one of the most numerous 

 winter ducks. Both the species "A. obscura" and "A. 

 rubripes" are common at this season in the vicinity of Long 

 Island and on the shores of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 

 but the latter appear to winter to a greater degree in Massa- 

 chusetts than the former. West of the mountains there is 



