lily pads, swam slowly ashore just above the landing. It 
was evidently too much frightened to return to the marshes 
across the river (where the Falcon must have originally 
found it) for it spent the remainder of the afternoon on 
the bushy shore a little to the west of the cabin. 
Wood Ducks were more numerous in the river than 
usual, owing probably to the fact that many of the smaller 
ponds and brooks were nearly or quite dry this autumn. On 
October 17th a pair of these beautiful Ducks appeared on 
the reach known as the Holt and remained there constantly 
until the 20th, when I shot them both. At first they were 
rather shy, but as they were not molested and became accus¬ 
tomed to the frequent appearance of boats and canoes, 
they soon allowed us to paddle or ±ow within short gun 
range before taking flight. After the first day they fre¬ 
quented the Holt and the wooded reach just above Hunt’s 
Pond, indifferently, flying from one place to the other 
and back again;as often as they were disturbed regularly 
doubling back over the land to avoid the approaching boat, 
I should not have killed them but for the fact 
that the 20th was Saturday and it was practically certain 
that the meadows would be alive with gunners on the Sunday. 
Although I had had numerous easy shots at them through the 
week, they gave me no little trouble when I went in pursuit 
of them on the 20th. It happened in this wise: As I was 
