1871. 
Nov» 15, 
\ 
1876, 
Feb. 24. 
Nov, 20, 
293 
Mergulus alio, 
Middlesex County, Mass, 
A heavy easterly gale prevailed all day, v/ith dri¬ 
ving sheets of rain and the highest tide known for years. 
Driven before this storm multitudes of little auks sought 
refuge in the fresh water ponds and river all along the 
Nev/ Rngland Coast, In Fresh Ponds they v^ero killed 
bu dozens, coming in usually by two’s or three’s but some¬ 
times in flocks of thirty or forty. They vrero very tame 
although sometimes restless. Several wore killed v/ith 
the oars and others caught alive. They floated lightly 
on the v/ater frequently rising erec t and flapping their 
wings. They wore continually dressing their plimiage, 
turning nearly over on their backs to do this. When 
shot at and killed they invariably turned over on their 
backs and floated with the white breast up. If missed 
they usually flew to the other end of the pond. When 
one of tv/o or throe was shot the survivors usually dove 
coming up again within a few yards; but the largest 
flock when fired into commonly left the pond. Their 
powers of diving wore apparently limited, for they did 
not remain under legd long, and rarely swam far beneath 
the surface. Their flight was slow, rather labored and- 
as several of our gunners remarked, strikingly like a 
Wood-ccok’s, They rose from the water with little dif¬ 
ficulty. On Charles River in Cambridge they swarmed, 
many were killed on Mystic Pond, Arlington, and largo 
numbers on Punkapog Canton, They v/ere taken as far 
up the Merrimac River as Lawrence, on Chituate Lake 
and in short nearly every pond and river v/ithin twenty 
miles of the coast. On Concord River they occured in 
large flocks and v/ore much exhausted many being picked 
up dead. Some were seen alive there as late as the 19th 
Several shot on Fresh Pond the 16th and 17th had their 
stomachs filled with young Alowifes. Only one out of 
tv/enty-seven which I skinned was fat, while the majority 
were fairlyimaeiated. Many were picked up in an exhaus¬ 
ted condition in fields, meadows, and even city streets. 
In Canton seven were found swimming in a puddle in a far¬ 
mers barnyard. 
One picked up in exhausted condition in Lexington 
February 21 by a farmer. 
A heavy north easter, the wind blowing a perfect 
gale ap day prostrating telegraph poles, over throwing • 
shaky buildings and doing much damage among the shipping, 
il fell in torrents from day light till well into the 
night and the country was flooded. m short this storm 
was nearly a counterpart for that of November — 187/ — 
^ accompanied by an inroad of Little Au^s 
^ the 21st, 22d, and 23d a few were seen in this vieini- 
reported on Mys- 
sr. I did not hear of any taken very far inland. 
