69 
than Shawneetown was received from Mr. W. B. Hull, of Milwaukee, 
Wis. Mr. Hall writes: 
For about a week the whole bay was frozen vver with ice from 12 to 14 inches 
thick. During this time the pot-hunters butchered numbers of Pintail Ducks. The 
Ducks were half starved and would allow a man to approach within 20 feet of them. 
Icemen were cutting ice close to the shore, and Ducks came right among them to get 
to the open water. A friend who was on theship Oneida during her twenty-five days 
in the ice, said that the Ducks (Pintails mostly, but a few “northern” ducks, he did 
not recognize), were “frozen in.” When walking onthe ice near the boat he saw hun- 
dreds of Ducks in a solid casing of ice. In the winter of 1873-’74 they were killed 
in the same way. 
In the spring of 1885 migration began during the last week of Feb- 
ruary. Flocks of about 400 birds passed Cimarron, Kans., February 
26. The next day several flocks of Pintails, “the first ducks of the 
season,” passed over Saint Louis, Mo. Large numbers were seen at 
Shawneetown, Ill., February 28. Concerning their presence at Saint 
Louis on that day Mr. Widmann writes: _ 
From 7 a. m, till noon an almost steady stream of ducks passed over in flocks of 
from 30 to 60, the larger part being Sprigtails, so far as I could see. There was 
hardly any time when at least one flock could not be seen in some direction, but 
oftener half a dozen could be counted at the same time. Many flocks followed the 
Mississippi, but the majority turned off to the west just south of the city, in order to 
reach the Missouri river, or the large tracts of land between the mouths of the Mis- 
souri and Illinois rivers. ‘Thousands have passed this city to-day. 
As in the case of most of the other ducks, during the spring migra- 
tion of 1885, the flight west of the Mississippi was more rapid than on 
the east. March 2 flocks were seen at Emporia, Kans., where they 
were common March 3; March 4 they were seen at Sioux City, Iowa, 
and March 8, at Linwood, Nebr. March 11 to 14 they were noted from 
Aledo, Ill.;:Tampico, Il.; Newton, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Laporte 
City, Iowa; and Heron Lake, Minn. March 26 there were “ myriads” 
of them at Emmetsburgh, Iowa. The first flocks came to Fernwood, IL, 
March 31. The bulk left Des Moines, Iowa, the night of April 2. They 
were very common at Heron Lake, Minn., March 30. The first came to 
Larimore, Dak., April 7; Menoken, Dak. ; and Ossowo, Manitoba, April 
7, and they were common all over Manitoba by April 20. In the fall 
of 1885 the first were seen at Fernwood, DL, September 12, and at San 
Angelo, Tex., September 4. The last at Ossowo, Manitoba, was seen 
November 1, and at Heron Lake, Minn., November 9. 
144. Aix sponsa (Linn.). [613.] Wood Duck. 
A well-known inhabitant of temperate North America; breeds 
throughout the Mississippi Valley, and is resident from southern Illi- 
nois southward. Ia Manitoba it is a rare summer resident. 
Mr. Wood writes that at Moss Point, Miss., the young hatch in March, 
and he has never seen a male of this species in summer. In the spring 
of 1884 it arrived at Saint Louis March 12; at latitude 40° 8’, in Illi- 
nois, March 15; at latitude 41° 40’, in Iowa, March 16; in Wisconsin, at 
latitude 44° 29/, March 23; and in Minnesota, at latitude 44° 32', April 
