280 FEATHERED GAME 
and western country. Rarely do they encroach 
upon each other’s territory except in the south 
during the winter months. This species ranges 
to northern Labrador in summer, both coast 
and interior, in winter going south to Florida 
and rarely beyond. 
Because of its abundance and the excellence 
of its flesh the Black Duck has long been the 
commonest of the wildfowl in our markets, but 
happily the laws now prevent the sale of this 
fine bird in much of the northern range of its 
family in the United States. He stays with us 
the year around. When in winter the inland 
lakes and streams are closed to him and he is 
left to the cold mercy of snow and ice, nothing 
daunted, he betakes himself to the coast, and in 
the never-frozen waters of the sea finds food 
in abundance and, for the most part, safety. 
At such times the Black Duck lives in the larger 
bays and the open ocean, during the day time 
sleeping contentedly on the water if the weather 
is fair, and seeking shelter from the storms on 
the lonely isles and in cozy nooks on the deep- 
sea ledges, flying into the tide-waters and visit- 
ing the ‘‘mussel-beds’’ each night to feed, per- 
haps coming ashore for fresh water so needful 
