Anas obscura. Lake Umbagog, Maine. 1894. I did not fire a shot before reaching Bottle Brook Pond Sept. 13. where we found fully 75 Black Ducks. I stalked a portion of the flock successfully but with some difficulty. They were off the point between the middle and right-hand coves. As I got to the black alder thicket on the end of the point a doz- en or more Ducks were standing or lying on a grassy island just out of range preening their feathers or sleeping. Every now and then two or three would chase one another about, splashing the water noisily with their wings and making the place ring and echo with their loud quacking. It was nearly half an hour before I got a shot but at length three birds came humming along close under the bushes and I killed three, all with a single charge. The foliage prevented my getting in the other barrel.