THE BIRDS IN WINTER 

 he visited. When the surface of lakes and bays 

 freezes suddenly in the night Ducks are sometimes 

 caught and held fast by the ice adhering to their 

 feathers and legs. In this condition they are utterly 

 unable to escape the attacks of man and beast, and 

 in the latitude of New York captures in this way are 

 now and then reported. 



Wild Fowl Destroyed in the Oil Fields. — In the oil 

 fields of the Southwest and old Mexico the surface 

 of many ponds is covered with oil into which unsus- 

 pecting flocks of Ducks alight never again to emerge 

 until their dead bodies drift to the shore. It was on 

 November 27, 1912, that the naval tank ship Arethusa 

 steamed into the harbour of Providence, Rhode 

 Island, with a cargo of crude oil. For several days 

 following her bilge pumps sent overboard a contin- 

 uous stream of water and oil seepage. On December 

 3d the following news-item appeared in the Providence 

 Daily Bulletin, "The east shore of the lower har- 

 bour and upper bay, from Wilkesbarre pier to River- 

 side and below, is strewn with the bodies of dead 

 [93] 



