Todd : Birds of Erie and Presque Isle. 517 



not personally met with the species at this season, while the gunners 

 all consider it rare. In the fall of 1900 it came under our notice but 

 once, when three specimens killed by a gunner on Horseshoe Pond, 

 September 25, were examined. Mr. Simpson reports having taken a 

 single adult female, November 13, 1903. 



27. Dafila acuta. Pintail Duck. 



This species is locally known as "Gray Duck," and is common as 

 a transient visitant during the migrations. They arrive with the Black 

 Mallards in the spring, Mr. Bacon's earliest records at that season 

 being February 23, 1891, while for other years his dates are as' fol- 

 lows : 1897, March n; 1898, March 10; 1901, March 25; 1902, 

 March 11. In the fall they come early in September, (September 6, 

 1893, September n, 1894, September 7, 1895, September 15, 1899), 

 and are usually gone by the end of the following month, although on 

 two occasions, November 13, 1902, and December 3, 1903, much 

 later records were made. In 1900 a few were seen on Big Pond on 

 April 20, this being our only spring record. September 19 was the 

 date of their first appearance in the autumnal movement, and they 

 were recorded at intervals from that time until as late as November 16. 

 Single individuals or small parties were the rule, always in the ponds. 

 In all the adult male specimens examined in the fall the middle tail- 

 feathers were in a worn condition 'and no longer than the others. An 

 interesting specimen, illustrating the moult of the male from summer 

 into winter plumage, was secured on October 17. Mr. Simpson con- 

 tributes the following notes on this species: "Several males were 

 seen April 26, 1902, in a large flock of ducks that frequented Misery 

 Bay on that occasion. On November 10, 1903, a female was ob- 

 served. ' ' 



28. Aix sponsa. Wood Duck. 



This species is tolerably common as a transient visitant in spring 

 and fall, and every year a few pairs spend the summer on the Peninsula, 

 where they rear their young, their shy and secretive habits during the 

 nesting season enabling them to pass comparatively unnoticed until the 

 young are fairly well grown. Broods of young birds have repeatedly 

 been seen in August, and numerous specimens secured. On August 

 10, 1 90 1, a flock of ten young birds was noted by Mr. Bacon. Two 

 young taken August 12, 1903, in which the postjuvenal moult had just 

 commenced, are in the Carnegie Museum. It is early in April before 



