PINTAILS AND WIDGEONS. 185 



The female has the head and neck brownish-white, thickly 

 specked and streaked with black; back and scapulars, dusky- 

 brown, the feathers edged with drab or light reddish- 

 brown, those on the back elegantly waved with narrow 

 lines of chestnut-red; wing dusky, speculum and coverts 

 edged with white; the purplish-brown of the breast some- 

 what as in the male, but lighter, and mixed with dusky; 

 under parts like the male, except the tail-coverts, which are 

 white and brown-spotted. 



This bird has the habits of our fresh-water Ducks in gen- 

 eral, spending the winter on the rivers, streams, bays, lakes, 

 ponds, and flooded fields of the Southern States; it feeds on 

 rice, grains, the seeds of grasses, roots, aquatic insects, 

 mast, and small fry. Whether on the land or on the water 

 it is a beautiful and graceful object. On the wing it is 

 direct and swift, having the whistling stroke more or less 

 common to its near allies. Swimming or flying, the flocks 

 move compactly, and so afford a good sight to the marks- 

 man. 



The Widgeon may tarry with us till well on in April, and 

 returns again from the north early in September, and 

 may be seen through October. Pairing before starting for 

 its breeding grounds, it has a soft, whistling or flute note — 

 szwee, szwee. 



Concerning its nidification. Dr. Coues says: "The 

 Widgeon breeds in abundance in Northern Dakota and 

 Montana, along the banks of the streams and pools. Some 

 such places which I visited, the resort of many pairs of 

 various Ducks during the breeding season, and of innumer- 

 able flocks during the migrations, resemble the duck-yard 

 of a farm, in the quantities of moulted feathers and amount 

 of ordure scattered everywhere. I was surprised to find young 

 Widgeons still unable to fly, even as late as the middle of 



