Cambridge, Mass.
1899
December
  Anas boschas- A fine Mallard drake, no doubt the same
that was noted in November, was swimming among the
Black Ducks during all the visits but one that I
made to Fresh Pond this month. The date of his absence
was the 21st. when I found that something had befallen him
but I found him back in the Pond on the 25th. He
was a very old fellow and invariably kept at a safe 
distance from shore. On the 17th. a [female] Mallard appeared
in the Pond and I saw her there again on the 21st. 
On the 25th. there were two females one of which kept
the drake close company. [delete]Although[/delete] The other avoided
him as did the female seen on the 17th. from which I
concluded that the bird was one & the same on both
occasions as well as the 21st.& that the female which
was with the drake on the 25th. was the newcomer.
The female seen on the 17th went ashore in company with some
Black Ducks and spent upwards of fifteen minutes walking
about or floundering on the rocky pavement near the water's edge.
  Dafila acuta- Two in the Pond on the 13th and again on
the 21st. There can be little doubt that they were the same
birds on both occasions for one was a fine old drake, the
other a young male in a plumage about intermediate 
between that of the adult of its own sex and the female.
The adult male showed the white on the neck conspicuously
at all times. Both birds swam about among the Black Ducks
but invariably kept close to one another. I did not see
either of them stretch up its neck to the full length.
Indeed they usually carried their heads quite as low
as did the black Ducks. I had an excellent view of
them and their identification was wholly satisfactory.
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