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appear never to have been very numerous, at least we have no proof of this. It is true that Professor Newton tells us that this duck used to breed on rocky islets, and that "its fate is easily understood," since "man began yearly to visit its breeding haunts, and, not content in plundering its nests, mercilessly to shoot the birds." This, however, seems to be mere conjecture, as we do not know for certain where the breeding haunts of this Duck have been, and that anyone has ever visited them. All information known about the breeding of this bird is that of Audubon, who says that his son was shown empty nests on the top of bushes, which a clerk of the fishing establishment told him were those of the Labrador Duck. This information is certainly too uncertain to draw any conclusions from, but the breeding places might just as well have been much further to the north, and probably were.
- The number of specimens extant is 48.
- Amiens, Town Museum: 1 ♂ ad. (Auk. 1897, p. 87).
- Berlin Museum: 1, bought from Salmin (Hartl. p. 23).
- Paris: ♂ adult, presented 1810 by M. Hyde de Neuville.
- London, British Museum: 2, a ♂ ad. and a ♀ ad., neither of them with exact locality or date.
- Liverpool: 2 ♂ ad., 1 ♀, 1 ♂ jun.
- Cambridge: 1 ♂
- Dublin: 1 fine mounted ♂ (Dr. Scharff in litt.)
- Tring: 1 ♂ ad., 1 ♂ jun. (See below.)
- Brussels: 1 ♂ ad.
- St. Petersburg: 1 ♂ ad., purchased from Salmin.
- Heine Museum in Germany: 1 poor specimen.
- Munich: The Museum possesses a male from the collection of the Duke of Leuchtenberg.
- Dresden: 1 ♂ and two doubtful eggs—the latter doubtless wrong I should say.
- Vienna: 1 ♂ ad., exchanged from Baron von Lederer in 1830. Locality New York; 1 ♀ ad., bought from Brandt in Hamburg in 1846, for 4 Gulden!
- Leiden Museum: ♂ ♀, from the Prince of Wied.
- American Museum, New York: 7, three of which formerly belonged to George N. Lawrence.
- Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn: 1 ♂ ad.
- Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. York: 1 ♂ ad.
- New York State Museum, Albany: ♂ ♀ ad.
- Cory collection: ♂ ♀ ad.
- University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont: 1 ♂ ad.
- Philadelphia: 2 ♂ jun., 1 ♀
- U.S. National Museum, Washington: 2 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 ♂ jun.
- Collection of Mr. William Brewster: 1 ♂ jun., 1 ♀
- Boston Society of Natural History: 1 ♂ jun.
- Collection of Dalhousie College, Halifax: ♂ ♀
This makes a total of 48 known specimens.
