520 LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



whole of their nourishment during the night, the Widgeon procures its food — con- 

 sisting of grass — in the daytime; and while the Mallard and the Teal are sporting 

 on the water or reposing on the banks, the Widgeon is devouring with avidity the 

 same kind of short grass on which the Geese are found to feed. Though many flocks 

 of AVidgeons are known to accompany the other Waterfowl in their nocturnal wander- 

 ings, the larger number of them pass the whole night Avhere they have spent the day. 

 This is shown by their singular whistling noise, which is heard at all hours. 



In March and April the Widgeons again move northward for the breeding-season, 

 a small number remaining in the northern part of Scotland to breed about the lakes 

 of Sutherlandshire. JNIr. Selby, in his paper on the birds of that region, writes that 

 he was much pleased to observe several pairs of this species upon the smaller lochs 

 near Lairg. They probably had their nests among the reeds and other herbage which 

 grew in their vicinity. Mr. Selby Avas not so fortunate as to find any of them, but 

 afterward, upon one of the islands of Lake Laoghall, he shot a female upon a nest of 

 seven eggs. This was placed in the midst of a large collection of rushes, and was 

 made of decayed rushes and reeds, with a lining of warm down from the bird's body. 

 The eggs are described as being smaller than those of the Mallard, and of a rich 

 creamy white color. They measure 2.13 inches in length and 1.50 in breadth. 



The note of the Widgeon is a shrill whistle, and on this account it is known in 

 some parts of England as the Whew Duck, and in France as the Canard Slffieur. 



According to the observations of Mr. Richard Dunn, the Widgeon is the most abun- 

 dant of all the Duck tribe in Lapland, frequenting the grassy swamps, lakes, and 

 rivers, appearing in pairs with the first breaking-up of the ice. As soon as the female 

 begins to lay, the male loses his beautiful plumage, and secretes himself in the 

 swamps and inaccessible morasses. The female lays from five to eight eggs. The 

 young keep among the rushes and reeds in the lakes, the old birds betaking them- 

 selves to the shallows on the coast. The Widgeon leaves for the south early in 

 September, appearing in great flocks on the coast of Norway and Sweden ; it entirely 

 leaves Sweden in the winter. 



Mareca americana. 



THE AMERICAN WIDGEON ; BALD-PATE. 



Anas americana, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 526. — Wils. Am. Oin. VIII. 1814, 86, pi. 69, f. 1. — AuD. 



Oru. Biog.'iy. 1838, 337, pi. 345 ; Synop. 1839, 279 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 259, pi. 389. 

 Mareca americana, Stephens, Shaw's Gen. Zool. XII. ii. 1824, 135. — Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 



445. — Baied, B. N. Am. 1858, 783 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 585. — CoUEs, Key, 1872, 286 ; 



Check List, 1873, no. 493 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 713 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 564. — Ridgw. Norn. N. 



Am. B. 1882, no. 607. 

 Mareca jJenelopc, b., Blasiu.s, B. Eur. 1862, 21. 



Hab. North America in general, north to Arctic Ocean, soutli to Guatemala and Cuba. Acci- 

 dental in Europe. Breeds nearly throughout its range. 



Sp. Char. Aihdt male in idnter : Forehead and middle of crown (longitudinally) white, 

 generally immaculate ; ground-color of head and neck white, sometimes more or less soiled with 

 grayish or hrowu, and thickly speckled with black ; a broad space of metallic blackisli green on 

 the side of the occiput, running forward to the eye, and sometimes down the nape, where the 

 two spaces are confluent. Jugulum plain pinkish vinaceous ; sides and flanks the same, delicately 

 undulated with black ; lower tail-coverts velvety black ; rest of lower parts pure white. Back 

 and scapulars grayish white, more or less tinged with the color of the sides, and similarly undu- 

 lated with black. Wing-coverts inmiaculate pure white, the anterior portion of the lesser-covert 

 region cinereous, and the last row tipped with velvety black ; speculum soft metallic green ante- 



