Anas, boschas . 
Cambridge, I,lass. 
1899. I think I saw an adult male in Fresh Pond on the 24th 
November, and again on the 23th but it was so far away that I could not 
make sure of its identity. No such doubt is attached to a 
male in full .plumage (probably the same bird seen on the 24th 
and 23th) which I watched for an hour or two on the 29th and 
identified beyond any question. This v/as the first male LJal- 
lard 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 (O.A.), 
who was with me, insisted, Mallard Ducks. 
Nov.29. In company with the Black Ducks in Fresh Pond this morn¬ 
ing was a male Mallard in fully adult plumage. Through the 
glass I could easily make out his shining green head and 
clear yellow bill but to the naked eye his head looked black 
for he was at no time nearer me than three or four hundred 
yards. Although I watched him for a long time I noticed 
nothing of particular interest connected with his carriage or 
behavior which, indeed, seemed to me to be in every way es¬ 
sentially the same as those of the Black Ducks by which he 
was usually surrounded. 
