Anas obscura. 1895. Lake Umbagog. September 10. (2) .... As I was creeping up to these Wood Ducks (seen after I had seen the sleeping Black Duck) I saw the Black Duck stretch up his neck and then with closed wings drop plump into the water, making as much noise as a big stone would have done. 1897, Lake Umbagog. May 15. Southern end of lake. I believe that with the Black Duck also the female al- ways precedes the male when the pair are flying together at least at this season. Certainly this has been the case with all the pairs that I have seen here this season, including two birds that passed our house boat this morning (started, as I afterwards learned, by Watrous near one of the floating islands near Upton). The sexes can be easily and certainly distinguished by the dif- ference of size, the male being much larger than the female. May 19. Lake Umbagog. Sargent's Cove. (I found) a fine adult Bald Eagle, next a pair of Black Ducks which started well in among the flooded forest (the lake is exceptionally high even for this season) and were forced to mount nearly straight upward to a height of 40 or 50 feet before they could get clear of the trees (striking their wings loudly against more than one dead branch during the ascent). 29