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 over 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 the ship 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 on the ice near the boat he saw hun- 

 dreds of Ducks iu 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, u the first ducks of the 

 season," passed over Saint Louis, Mo. Large numbers were seen at 

 Shawneetown, 111., February 28. Concerning their presence at Saint 

 Louis on that day Mr. Widmann writes : 



From 7 a. m. till noon au 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 auy time when at least one flock could not be seen in some direction, but 

 oftenerhalfa dozen could be counted at the same time. Many flocks followed tbe 

 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, 111.; Tampico, 111.; 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, 111., 

 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, 111., 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 Buck. 



A well-known inhabitant of temperate North America; breeds 

 throughout the Mississippi Valley, and is resident from southern Illi- 



Inois southward. Pa 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, Marcli 15 ; at latitude 41° 40', iu Iowa, March 16; in Wisconsin, at 

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