Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1899.
November.
  Colaptes auratus luteus.- One seen in the garden on the 8th,
22nd, 25th, 27th, & 29th, another at Payson Park on the 30th.
  Falco columbarius .-  On the morning of the 25th as I was driving
around Fresh Pond a [female] Pigeon Hawk started from the oak & birch
woods on the South shore, crossed the pond to the hemlock grove
and then turned back coming almost directly over me &
flying with great swiftness.
  Anas obscura .- Black Ducks have been constantly present in
Fresh Pond during the entire autumn & in numbers considerably
greater, on the average, than in any previous year within 
my resolution. My November counts were as follows: [Nov] 20: 100,
[Nov] 25: 100, [Nov] 28: 140, [Nov] 29: 150, [Nov] 30: 160, (Detailed notes on habits etc. will
be found on a following page under the date of Nov 29th)
  Anas boschas .- I think I saw an adult [male] in the Pond
on the 24th & again on the 28th but it was so far away
that I could not unclear sure of its identity. No such doubt
is attached to a male in full plumage (delete]which was[/delete] probably the
same bird seen on the 24th & 28th) which I watched for
an hour or two on the 29th & identified beyond any question.
(see notes under the date last given). This was the first [male] Mallard
in perfectly mature plumage that I have ever seen living. At
a distance its head looked black and its back very light grayish
giving it a general resemblance to a Scaup. In view of this 
fact it is not impossible that two Ducks which were swimming
near the middle of the Pond on the 20th and which I took
at the time to be Scaups were really, as Lothrop, who was with
me, insisted, Mallard Ducks.
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