Merganser arner icanus . 
Lake IMbagog, New England. 
1898. sport. Black Ducks indulge themselves in much the same way 
Aug.28. but less frequently. 
(No.2). When diving for fish these Sheldrake often sprang for¬ 
ward quite out water and arching their backs cleft the sur¬ 
face so deftly as to leave scarce a ripple. Their dives were 
usually short and invariably made in the general direction in 
which the flock were was moving. That is to say they never 
turned back but occasionally a bird would come up a little 
way out from shore when it would at once paddle hurriedly in 
to join its comrades. 
At length the flock reached us and rounded the point within 
three feet of the shore and not over six feet. from where we 
"O'* <\ l< & 
were sitting!- Yet so far as we could,,out not a bird discov¬ 
ered us or even suspected the presence of danger. There were 
just twelve of them and for a moment or two a blanket would 
have covered them all. 
Beautiful creatures they were with their soft gray plu¬ 
mage and fluffy, tawny crests carried low down on the head 
and terminating in delicately drawn points _ Jus ‘ t ' 
as they came abreast of us each bird lowered its bill suddenly 
and thrust its head beneath the surface until the wa^er came 
about half-an-inch above its eyes. In this attitude and with¬ 
out for an instant checking their speed they paddled steadily 
on and passed out of our sight behind a projection of ohe shore. 
/oy 
