Many birds are caught on or under water by fish. I 
have seen a large pickerel dart at the feet of a swimming 
Pied-billed Grebe. The Grebe eluded the fish’s rush by 
springing into the air and shooting along the surface of 
the water. The bird saw the approach of the fish, which 
came from the front, but he might not have seen it had it 
come from the rear. Occasionally Dovekies, Murres or 
ducks are taken with a part of a foot or one leg missing. 
In some of these cases the appearance of the limb indicates 
that it was mangled by a fish. Young ducks frequently are 
swallowed by fish. 
The late George A. Boardman of Calais, Maine, made the 
following statement: 
“Fifty years ago we used to have six different tree ducks 
breeding on our river: Barrow’s Golden-eye and the Buffle- 
head ( albeola ) rare, but the common Golden-eye, the Amer¬ 
ican Merganser, Hooded Merganser and Wood Duck abun¬ 
dant. About fifty years ago pickerel were put into our 
waters, which soon put an end to most of our wild ducks 
breeding, as the pickerel ate up all the chick ducks except 
in the few lakes or ponds that were free from pickerel. 
Near to Calais are several ponds and lakes that are free 
from those fish, and the tree ducks bring their young to 
those lakes for safety.” 1 
Mr. William D. Mershon of Saginaw, Mich., writes that 
he opened a trout weighing two and one-half pounds which 
had a duckling inside it. No doubt ducks are often caught 
by large fish, such as sharks, dogfish and goose-fish. Dr. 
R. S. Newton of Westborough, Mass., tells me that two 
years ago at Katama Beach, Martha’s Vineyard, he shot a 
goosefish about three feet long which came toward him in 
the shallows. He drew the fish out upon the beach. Later 
a friend called his attention to the fact that the crows had 
pecked a hole in the stomach of this fish, and on examining 
the hole he saw a Scaup Duck’s bill protruding. He opened 
the fish and found the entire bird in the stomach. 
Mr. G. Dallas Hanna,, of the University of California, 
writes that he has taken freshly swallowed Crested Auklets 
i Forest and Stream, Vol. 52 (May 6, 1899), p. 346. 
