'909-] THE CAYUGA LAKE BASIN, N. Y. 413 



Sometime during the spring of 1864, near a marsh on Cayuga Lake, two 

 large birds were seen for several weeks, but one of them left a few days 

 before the other was killed. None of the hunters had ever seen anything of 

 the kind about here before. It proved to be a specimen of the white or 

 rough-billed pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchus Gmelin), in good condition, 

 and its wings measured fully eight feet from tip to tip. 



In the late summer about 1888 Foster Parker killed a specimen which 

 is now in the New York State Museum. 



XXVII. Order ANSERES. Lamellirostral Swimmers. 

 44. Family Anatid^e. The Ducks and Geese. 



121 (129). Mergus americanus Cassin. Merganser. 



Common winter resident from the middle of October to the last 

 of April. The latest spring record is April 27, 1907, upon which 

 date they were still common. 



122 (130). Mergus senator Linnseus. Red-breasted merganser. 

 Common transient and found in small numbers during the winter. 



It is not common after April 25 and the latest date upon which they 

 have been recorded in the spring is May 25, 1907. 



123 (131). Lophodytes cucuUatus (Linnaeus). Hooded merganser. 

 Common transient from the last of March to the last of April. 



Foster Parker reports it as breeding, occasionally in the Montezuma 

 marshes. In the fall individuals are common from the middle of 

 October to the middle of November. 



124 (132). Anas platyrhynchos Linnseus. Mallard. 



Common transient during March and April and again in October. 

 It is sometimes found in winter and Foster Parker reports it as 

 breeding in the marshes at the north end of the lake. They first 

 appear in the fall about the middle of September and remain as late 

 as the last of November but are most common in October. 



125 (133). Anas rubripes tristis Brewster. Black duck. 

 Common transient and regular but not common in winter. It 



breeds regularly and in fair numbers in the Canoga and Montezuma 

 marshes. 



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