Aix sponsa . (2) 1889. Maine. L. Umbagog. Aix sponsa. view of them they presented such a singular appearance that I was sometime in making up my mind that they were really Ducks; in fact they looked much more like shapeless masses of drift which had become attached to the branch. Like the Black Duck the Wood Duck when wounded invar- iably goes ashore as soon as possible. It sometimes stops and hides only a few yards from the water if there is good cover, but several birds this autumn went two or three hund- red yards back into the woods. One crossed a slight ridge and descending into a hollow on the other side concealed itself among some long grass. My dog followed its trail and when he came up with it attempted to catch it, but it fluttered off over the surface of the pool and , just as he was about to overtake it dove. The water was not over a foot deep and perfectly clear while there were no weeds or brush on the bottom or about the edges of the pond; but despite these facts this duck was never seen again. The dog hunted several times about the edge of the cpondng with- out finding any scent, thus showing conclusively that the Duck did not leave the water, I was at loss to conceive where it had gone, dfor I waded all over the pond, examining the bottom carefully without discovering it. A wounded Wood resembling a small alligator Duck when swimming for the shore is a curious looking ob- ject It sinks its body until it shows only the line of the back and the top of the head above the surface and swims rather slowly. Unless shot at or pursued by a dog it does not dive, but making straight for the nearest grass or bushes, lands and disappears. At Umbagog it is a better bird on the table than the Black Duck, its flesh being ten- derer and much sweeter. The adult males after they have ac- quired the full plumage are almost invariably very fat. Behavior of Wounded Duds 79