1758 Thk Zoologist— Julv, 1869. 



side, at the distance of about forty yards, made no attempt to dive. 

 "Old Wife" is another provincial name for this species. 



Labrador Duck, Cara])tolaemus labradorius {Ginelin). — Probably 

 occurs on some parts of the coast, but I did not meet with it during 

 my stay at Cow Head. 



Velvet Dttck, Melanetta velvetina [Cassin). — Common, and probably 

 breeds on the island, as individuals may be seen throughout the 

 summer; although supposing the birds to assume the adult plumage 

 the second year, which I have reason to doubt, they may be non- 

 breeding birds, as they certainly do not breed until the third year. 

 Provincial name " Whitevvinged diver." 



Surf Duck, Pclionetla perspicillata {Linn.) — Common, especially 

 during the migratory season. The remarks on the plumage and 

 breeding habits of the preceding species applies equally to this and 

 the following species. Provincial names "Bottle-nosed diver" and 

 " Bald coot." 



American Scoter, CEderaia americana (Swuinson). — Very common 

 throughout the year ; at least until driven from the coast by drift ice, 

 which is not usual until the first week in January. It is called 

 the "sleepy diver" and "little black diver" when adult, by the" 

 settlers. 



American Eider Duck,* Somateria mollissima ? {Linn.) — By far the 

 most abundant species of duck in Newfoundland, but not so plentiful 

 now as a few years since, owing in a measure to an increase in popu- 

 lation, but more particularly to a wholesale robbery of eggs which is 

 carried on with impunity from the islands along the coast, and others 

 in the Straits of Labrador and Belle Isle. Several himdreds of these 

 beautiful ducks breed on some islands in the Bay of St. Paul, about 

 five miles west of Cow Head, and are strictly preserved by an old 

 Englishman, the only human resident in the bay. So abundant were 

 these birds in Newfoimdland a few years ago that a man living at Cow 

 Head killed one hundred and ten eiders at two shots in one day, and 

 on another occasion_/?/7«/-///ree at one shot; forty, also, had frequently 

 been killed at a shot, and I saw a youth, seventeen years of age, 

 knock down twenty at a shot in January, 1868, but even this last 

 number now is rarely obtained so easily. To the sportsman who is 

 content with a duck to each barrel this comparative scarcity is of 



* Professor Newton is of opinion thnt the American eider dififers from the Euro- 

 pean far more strikingly llian do some other so-called American species of ducks 

 (especially the genus CEdcmia), and I quite agree with him. — H. R. 



