236 
1867. 
Lophodytes cueullatus. 
Middlesex County, Mass. 
Nov. 19. 
Shot one just at dusk from a flock of six or sevon 
swimming within a few yards of the shore under the shel~ 
ter of an ice house. 
Dee, 4, 
Saw four on Fresh Pond for the last time this year . 
As they have been rather plenty ther^ this autumn I have 
had abundant opportunities of watching their habits and 
the following is the result of my observations. The 
Hooded Merganser makes its appearance here as soon as 
the night sets- begin to be cold and the ice to form 
around the edges of the larger ponds, and remain till the 
water is entirely covered with ice. They usually fly 
at the height of about fifteen yards and when in a largo 
flock are continually changing their positions, now 
flying in a broad extended line, and now in an irregular 
body. When on the water they sv/iin lightly and grace¬ 
fully but not nearly as fast as some other Ducks; they 
are so vigilent that it is almost impossible to approach 
within gun shot of them; indeed they almost always fly 
the moment that they perceive you even if you are far 
out of range. If at all apprehensive of dan^r they 
tney keeping cruising about with their heads raised but 
if everything remains quiet in their vicinity they soon 
return to their former occupation of diving in search of 
food; when fwo or three are feeding together, first one 
disappears with the quickness of thought, then another 
and another until all are beneath the surface but they 
soon emerge in nearly the same place and after swimming 
a short distance together, dive again. They invaria¬ 
bly alight near the shore—that is to say within a few 
tods of it—and it is very rare to find them swimming at 
any distance from it, but they will sometimes sv/im out 
into deep water when they perceive a team coming. They 
appear to affect equally gravelly and muddy bottoms and 
in general feed where the water is about sight f§et deep; 
but on one occasion I saw four of them walking about on 
the shore where there v/as only an inch or so of water. 
They rise with some difficulty striking the water vigor¬ 
ously with their feet, and proceed some distance before 
they attain any elevation but when once fairly under way 
fly with wonderful rapidity every now and then inclining 
to the loft or right much in the manner of the 0ommon 
Snipe and indeed their flight closely resembles that of 
this bird except that the wings are quivered as with 
most Ducks. They usually move like most ducks but I 
have seen them, ^rhere throe or four wore following each 
other over the still water of a sheltered cove, nod their 
heads exactly in the manner of the Common AmerUan Cool. 
1868. 
Aug. 11. 
Shot a young female near Block Island. It was fol¬ 
lowing the course of the brook and flying low dovm. 
