Rare Anatidae of Mass. and 266 1876. Feb. 24 The weather for the last few days has been cold and wintryish; no bird notes excepting the occurrence of Mergus albe at Roxbury Mass. when one was picked up in an exhausted state by a farmer on the 21st inst. Had a very interesting talk today with Mr. Joyce of Plymouth on the occurrence of different species of Anatidae in N. E. Mr. Joyce being an old duck shooter, an intelligent person and withal quite well acquainted with birds and moreover having spent most of his shooting experience in Plym Co. His report is fair excellence for the Mass. duck shooting; his opinions cannot but be considered as both reliable and valuable. For convenience I shall arrange his statements in regular order, in the question's answer forms. Ques. 1 Have you ever seen the wild swans (Cygne) in N. E. Ans. "Not but once when I saw two at Nesfords Pt. on Lake Mem. This was in Oct. 1860." Ques. 2. Have you ever seen or heard of any geese except B. Canadensis? Ans. "No; I am sure there are none others in occur." Ques. 3. How often do you hear of the capture of the mallard (A. boschas) in Plymouth Co. Ans. They occur but rarely now; perhaps half a dozen an taken by myself and friends every season and most of them are usually killed in Sept. Forty years ago they used to be common meal as much so in fact as A. obscura but since that time they have been gradually dying out here. Ques. 3. Do you often get the shoulder or the pintail? Ans. "Yes both; they are neither of them any uncommon but yet their numbers bear no proportion to those of many other species" Ques. 4. How about the gadwall? Ans. I have