146 BIKDS OF ILLINOIS. 



the broods often separate before leaving for the South ; this they 

 do about the middle of September. Mr. Kennicott several times 

 found perfect eggs of this species — though never of any other 

 duck — dropped along the shores of rivers, at their feeding- places. 

 This bird is said to make its first appearance on the Chesapeake 

 about the last of October. 



"While the Canvas-backs and the Black-heads dive and pull up 

 by the roots the Valllsneria grass, the Bald-pates manage to ob- 

 tain their full share of it, and at times succeed in robbing them 

 of the whole. At this time the flavor of the Bald-pate is con- 

 sidered preferable to that of even the far-famed Canvas-backs. 

 Of all the ducks that are found in the Chesapeake, the Widgeon 

 is said to be one of the most difficult to attract to the shore by 

 the process known as 'tolling.' In wing-shooting it is regarded 

 by the hunters as a great nuisance. It is not only so shy that 

 it avoids the points of land, but by its whistling and confused 

 manner of flight it alarms the other species. During its stay in 

 those waters it is the constant companion of the Canvas-backs, 

 upon whose superiority in diving it depends in a large degree for 

 its food, stealing from them, as they rise to the surface of the 

 water, the tender roots of the plant of which both are so fond. 

 When in good condition the flesh of the Bald-pate cannot easily 

 be distinguished from that of the Canvas-back. It is also thought 

 that birds killed on other waters, though excellent eating, are 

 far inferior to those from the flats of the Chesapeake. The Bald- 

 pate is said to visit the rice-fields of the South during the winter 

 in considerable numbers." (Water Birds of North America.') 



Genus DAFILA Stephens. 



Dafila Stephens, Shaw's Gen. Zool. xii, pt. ii. 1824, 126. Type, Anas acuta Linn. 

 Phasianurus Wagl. Isis, 1832, 1235. Same type. 



Gen. Char. Bill longer than the head, narrow, the edges parallel, deep through the 

 base, but otherwise much depressed, the basal portion of the culmen much ascending. 

 In the male, the scapulars, tertials, and middle rectrices lanceolate, the latter elongated 

 considerably beyond the other tail-feathers. The adult male in winter plumage very 

 different from the adult female, but the sexes much alike in summer. 



As defined above, the genus Dafila includes but a single 

 species, the D. acuta, or common Pin-tail, of the northern hem- 

 isphere. Several South American species have been referred to it; 

 but they all differ in having the sexes alike, in the dull (much 



