Ducks transporting Fresh-water Clams.-In a conversation with Mr. J. 
w Freese of Cambridge in relation to birds transporting bodies in then- 
claws my attention was called to an interesting observation made by Mr. 
Eugene Barry of Lynn. As the observation seems an important one, touch¬ 
ing a possible cause of the distribution of these mollusks, I have asked Mr. 
Ban-v, through the kindness of Mr. Freese, to write out his experience, 
and from the letter which he has kindly sent in reply the following ab¬ 
stract is made. . , „ . ,. 
While gunning on the Sebec River, Maine, he noticed among a flock of 
Ducks on the wing, one bird which flew more heavily than the others. 
This he shot, and on picking it up found a common -fresh-water clam 
attached to the penultimate joint of the ‘middle toe.’ He cut off the leg 
with the clam adhering to it, and noticed that the articulation to which the 
mollusk had fastened itself was chafed as if the clam had clung to it for 
sometime. After a day or more the leg of the Duck and the clam, which 
had not yet released its hold, were put into a basin of water, when the 
mollusk opened its "shell and released the imprisoned foot. Mr. Barry 
afterwards learned from boys of the neighborhood that the same Duck had 
been noticed flying about on several mornings and evenings previous to the 
day upon which he shot it. The clam was probably clinging to the Duck’s 
foot at that time, and had not released its grip even when the Duck lit 
upon the water, as it must frequently have done in the intervals of time 
between observation.—J. Walter Fewkes, Cambridge , Mass. 
Auk, I, April, 1884. p. 
n° 
