American Game 129 



are shot in ponds as well as on the coast. Ring- 

 necked duck are uncommon. Goldeneyes are com- 

 mon on the coast and in ponds during the autumn and 

 winter. Bufflehead duck are quite common, and fre- 

 quent ponds as well as the coast. Barrow's goldeneyes 

 are rare in Massachusetts. Long-tailed duck are not 

 very common. Harlequin duck, which were formerly 

 considered very rare, are now regarded as common off 

 the coast. They are generally shot by lighthouse 

 keepers; Eider duck visit the coast in midwinter in 

 great numbers. King eiders are occasionally shot off 

 the coast. The scoters, or coot as they are called by 

 gunners, are very abundant, and are shot annually by 

 the thousand off the coast, and sometimes in the ponds. 

 The American scoter are the least abundant, the black, 

 velvet, and white-winged being common. Ruddy duck 

 are quite common. Among the mergansers which are 

 shot by sportsmen, are the red-breasted, which are 

 quite common, the hooded, less common, and the 

 goosander or sheldrake ; the latter are very common, 

 and are found off the coast as well as in ponds. 



The Canada goose is the most common bird of its 

 family : other varieties of geese are occasionally shot. 



Of the smaller ducks, perhaps the bufflehead is the 

 most common. During the cold winter months the 

 eider duck is found in considerable numbers, being 

 more abundant off the northeastern coast. 



Throughout the state there are numerous ponds 

 where black duck are shot in large numbers. There 

 are also fresh-water ponds, especially in the southeast- 

 ern part of the state, where there are club-houses built 

 to accommodate sportsmen who wish to shoot black 



