Oidemia americana. Lake Umbagog, Maine. 1888 Sept. 30 A cold, gloomy day with occasional snow squalls, About noon my guide saw two flocks of Coots come down from the Sky & alight on to love They pitched down hundreds of feet nearly flat their wings making a noise like The Steam escape of an engine. One flock of fully 100 birds. They would run away 15 to 20 minutes & fly miles out & around the lake finally returning & alighting nearly where they started. My guide paddled in to within 40 yards of them & I killed 14 with 2 loads. Every bird in the flock as I saw plainly Autumnal occurrence at L. Umbagog. On the above date several flocks of these Ducks were seen on both Umbagog. Mr. Folsom killed nine from one flock which he thinks contained two hundred birds. They are first seen near B. Point but well out in the lake. They are very tame but hard to kill. He shot one & took it in the boat apparently dead ; shortly afterwards it began to struggle when he wrung its neck & apparently killed it. But upon firing another shot it jumped over the side of the boat, down and was not Oidemia americana Upton, Maine Oct. 3, 1852 61