165 
1868. 
Mar• 27, 
Anas obseura. 
Middlesex County, Mass. 
One, the first. 
1869, 
Apr, 8, 
Numbers at Concord feeding on the meadows in company 
v/ith the Wood Ducks, Shy as usual. 
1871. 
Mat, 16. 
Two. 
“ 23. 
Abundant on Concord River in flocks composed of 
paired and single birds. In windy v/eather they desert 
the river for the small sheltered ponds where I had ex¬ 
cellent opportunities to-day of observing their habits, 
having them frequently within tv/o yards of me. Here, 
unconeious of danger, they threvr off their usual watchful¬ 
ness and stiffness of carriage, some with heads emersed 
and feet kicking in the air, searching the bottom for 
food, others chasing one another about with flapping 
wings and loud quacking, while those already paired kept 
a little aloCfsailing along side by side and uttering 
a lov/ whistling grunt similar to that heard from our do¬ 
mestic Mallard. Wfeen the flock took v/ing the mated 
birds flew in pairs, the pairs twenty or thirty foot 
apart, but all keeping the same general dir^iction. 
Apr. 5. 
Saw five at concord. 
Sept. 15, 
’ Five were seen on Fresh Pond. 
Oct. 8. 
Two large flocks on Fresh Pond. 
1872. 
Apr. 3. 
Two at Concord, 
* 7. 
Abundant at Concord, Mass (Melvin), 
* 25. 
Numbers at Wayland; they wore apparently mating on 
wing, several drakes often chasing a female high up into 
the air, doubling, twisting, and circling about, frequent¬ 
ly coming down from a groat height with set wings. They 
are said to breed numerously on these meadows. 
1875. 
Apr. 8. 
Saw about sixty on Concord River. The water was 
all over the meadows and extended far back into the woods 
so that we paddled for miles through maple and pine 
swamps, occasionally eroosing flooded moadov/s transformed 
into beautiful little ponds encircled with dark pine foli- 
3>8e. The Ducks were scattered everywhere through thgse 
places but v/ere very shy. Several largo flocks were 
sitting on the elevated portions of the river meadow. 
As v^e approached they would stand erect with 
