BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 41 



spring consists largely of aquatic larvae, and of molluscs with 

 the succulent roots of fresh water vegetation; and in the 

 autumn of wild rice and domestic grains, to which should be 

 added considerable mast after the acorns have fallen. They 

 seldom resort to the smaller lakes and ponds after raising their 

 broods, but are found in the larger ones, and notably in the 

 vicinage of timber lands. Their distribution is not uniform by 

 any means, and about as difficult to ascertain as that of a great 

 number of avian species as sparingly represented. What pro- 

 portion of them go further north to breed it is difficult to even 

 conjecture, but doubtless much the larger. They disappear in 

 the fall migration somewhat earlier than do the Mallards. I 

 ought to have said before that the nest is a large, compact one, 

 and constructed of grasses and weeds, over which are imposed 

 the duck's own feathers. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Bill greenish; feet red; body generally blackish-brown; the 

 feathers obscurely margined with reddish-brown; those anteri- 

 orly with a concealed V-shaped mark, more or less visible 

 on the sides of the breast; head and neck brownish-yellow, 

 spotted with black; top of the head and nape, dark brown, 

 with a green gloss on the sides behind; wings dull blackish, 

 with a dull greenish gloss; speculum violet, terminated with 

 black; inner tertials hoary gray towards the tips; axillaries 

 and inside of wing w^hite ; tail of eighteen feathers; iris dark 

 brown. 



Length, 22; wing, 12; tarsus, 1.80; commissure, 2.56. 



Habitat, eastern North America, west to Utah and Texas. 



ANAS STREPERA. L. (135.) 

 GADWALL. 



No species of the Duck family is a more regular resident, 

 often reaching the State by the 25th of March, and found on 

 favorite streams late in November. They are quite a numerous 

 species and fly in compact flocks of about a dozen, rarely more, 

 which is easily recognized by the experienced gunner at con- 

 siderable distance by the distinctive character of their move- 

 ments on the wing. Like the Mallards and many other species 

 of the ducks, they live upon aquatic plants, both blades and 

 roots, larvae, water beetles, moUusks, wild rice, and the vari- 

 ous grains of the farmer's fields, to get which they fly long 

 distances both at night and during the day. 



The nests are found on the ground, in marshes skirting 



