RING-NECKED DUCK 191 



Wenham Lake in four years. In twenty years' shooting before that time I shot only 

 three at the same place (Phillips, 1921). For Connecticut there are a dozen or so 

 records (Sage, Bishop and Bliss, 1913; Bishop, 1921), and there are a few records 

 for Long Island (Braislin, 1907). This gives an idea of its status in New England 

 and so far as we know it was never any commoner. 



I think there is no doubt about its being a much commoner duck on the brackish 

 sounds of Virginia and North Carolina, at least during migration in late October and 

 November, than we once thought. Most likely its appearance is not very regular 

 but I have been told of a flight in the Back Bay region when one gun took twenty or 

 thirty in a single day. Numbers have been seen also in western Virginia in early 

 spring (E. A. Smyth, Jr., 1912). Dr. A. K. Fisher told me that he was astonished at 

 the abundance of Ring-necks at the Narrow's Isle Club in North Carolina, in Jan- 

 uary, 1923, but that was, of course, since the recent increase along the Atlantic coast. 



All down the Atlantic coast it is or rather was uncommon or irregular in appear- 

 ance. More evidence of a very recent increase comes from Oakley, South Carolina, 

 where Mr. Clarence Chapman has kept records at Mulberry Plantation since 1916. 

 Out of 195 on his log-book only 27 were shot prior to 1921, the years 1921-22-23 

 showing comparative abundance. Mr. F. C. Lincoln found it very abundant in 

 that region in late January, 1922. It probably does not winter regularly until 

 Florida is reached and even in that State it is not at all common on the east coast 

 (about ten in thirteen years' shooting at the Canaveral Club), but becomes much more 

 abundant in the lake region of central and northern Florida and down even to Lake 

 Okeechobee, where Dr. T. S. Palmer tells me he once saw it in thousands. It was 

 reckoned as the commonest duck in Leon County, Florida (R. W. Williams, 1904) 

 and very abundant at Gainesville (F. M. Chapman, 1888) and it is certainly abund- 

 ant in the lakes near Tallahasse, as Mr. Ludlow Griscom has told me. He counted 

 1000 there on December 25, 1915 (Griscom, 1916). 



When we reach the waters of the Gulf Coast we find it really abundant, figuring 

 as five per cent among the ducks which used to be marketed in New Orleans, a pro- 

 portion probably much too low, as many would appear on the records as other 

 species of diving ducks. It is not found everywhere, of course, but the little coves and 

 bayous connecting with the coastal lakes beyond the usual play of the tides, and 

 where the water is nearly fresh, are, according to the Game Commissioner's report, 

 the favorite places. Typical of these are the northern shore of Lake Catherine, 

 Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Salvador and the inner marshes to the westward. Mr. 

 Mcllhenny considers it "very common" in Louisiana and this holds also for the 

 Texas coast where Griscom (1920) found it "the commonest duck" near San An- 

 tonio, and others have given similar reports for the same region (W. Lloyd, 1887; 

 Attwater, 1892). Indeed, it is an abundant duck in the whole Mississippi valley and 

 in the Big Lake region of Arkansas is a famous autumn stronghold. 



