('. H. Mirrhiiii — ll'inh of ('omtxtU'iit. ]'j;( 



Goose. 'I'liat the latlcr does iiol arrive till aricr llic ( 'aiiada ( Jrcsi' 

 liavi' all CKiiu', and that tlu-y do not stav loiiu, luit pa^-^ M>iit liw ai-d — 

 Ir'ik-o their nanu'. They are also iiotieealily smaller than the Canada 

 Goose. 



233. Anas boSChas Linne. Mallard. 



A rare miorant. Have notes of its oceurreuce liere Sei>te!n1n'r :?otli, 

 October, and Xovenil)er l.'nh, 1875, and Mr. Grinnell saw it in Octo- 

 ber and Xoveinber, 1876. Linsley gives it from Stratford, (apt. 

 Brooks writes nie from Faulkner's Island, Conn., tliat they are not 

 abundant : "occasionally see a few witli Black Ducks in the fall." 



234. Anas Obscura Gmelin. Black- Duck. 



A resident, but most abundant during the migrations. Capt. 

 Brooks writes me that they " come in September and stay through 

 the winter. Leave in May and June." Linsley said that they 

 occasionally bred about Stratford, Conn. That their edible qualities 

 were early apjjreciated is seen from the writings of Thomas INIorton, 

 who said (in 1632): "Ducks, there are of three kindes, pide Ducks, 

 gray Ducks, and black Ducks, in greate abundance: the most about 

 my habitation were black Ducks : and it was a noted custome at my 

 howse, to have every mans Duck upon a trencher, and then you will 

 thinke a man was not hardly used, they are bigger boddied, then the 

 tame Ducks of England : very fatt and dainty flesh. The common 

 doggs fees were the gibletts, unlesse they were boyled now and 

 than for to make broath."* 



235. Dafila acuta (Liune) Bonaparte. Pintail; Sprigtail. 



A rather rare winter resident. Have seen but few specimens. 

 Linsley found it at Stratford, Conn. Mr. Osborne saw one in .Alarch 

 (23), 1877. Mr. J. N. Clark, of Saybrook, Conn., tells me that he 

 does not consider it particularly rare; in fact that he thinks it is 

 rather common in spring and fall in that vicinity — about the mouth 

 of the Connecticut. Dr. Wood, of East Windsor Hill, has two 

 specimens killed on the Connecticut Kiver above Ilartford, l)ut tiiey 

 are extremely rare there. 



* New English Canaan, p. 47. Reprinted in Peter Force's Historical Tracts, Tract 5. 



