Anas obscura . 
Cambridge, Llass. 
1899. surface but remaining under in some instances' for nearly 
Nov.29. half-a-minute then rising on wirjg and diving again, never 
( 3 ). from a greater height than five or six feet. 
Constantly present by day in Fresh Pond up to the time 
December. its surface was completely closed by ice (the night of the 
28th) in numbers usually exceeding 100 and sometimes reaching 
150 to 1G0. They became tamer or more daring as the season 
advanced approaching the shore to within a few yards and 
sometimes swimming quite in and Inading on the rocky beach 
where they would walk about or stand erect preening their 
feathers and basking in the sun until startled by the ap¬ 
proach of a carriage, bicycle or pedestrian when they would 
fly out and alight in the middle of the pond. The flock 
scattered over nearly the whole pond at times but I saw no 
birds in the cove where the fountain discharges the incoming 
water although the whole assemblage often drifted well down 
into Cambridge nook. The place often rang with their quack¬ 
ing when the air was still. 
, v? 
