916 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —LAMELLIROSTRES — ANSERES. 



some 30 or more of which are protrusive in our species; in C. coiiesi of the Fanuing islands 

 tliey are still finer, more closely packed, and about 75 on a side — like a fine-tooth comb. 

 (A. 0. U. reduced to subgenus of ^«as, 1886-95, reverting to nomenclature of Key in Suppl. 

 List, Auk, Jan. 1899, p.lo3.) 



C. stre'perus. (Lat. sire/jeras, noisy, " obstreperous.") Gadwall. Gray Duck. Gray 

 WinGEON. Creek Duck. Bleating Duck. Speckle-belly. Adult ^ : Bill blue- 

 black ; feet dull orauge, with dusky webs and claws ; iris reddish-brown. Head and neck 

 brownish-white, darker on crown and nape, barred and specked with dusky. Lower neck, 

 breast, sides of body and fore back waved with crescentic bars of blackish and white, giving 

 a scaly apjiearance, most distinct on neck and breast, elsewhere finer, more undulatory and 

 transverse; in high plumage the black marks tending to coalesce in a collar between neck and 

 breast. Lower back dusky, passing to black on rump and upper tail-coverts. Belly white, 

 minutely marbled with gray ; crissum velvety black. Scapulars tinged with rusty brown ; long- 

 est inner quills hoary gray ; lining of wings white ; lesser upper coverts gray ; middle coverts 

 chestnut-red or maroon (color of unpolished mahogany) ; speculum white, formed by part or 

 the whole of outer webs of secondaries, framed in velvet black o-f greater coverts, terminally 

 bordered with black and hoary gray. Length 20.00-22.00 ; extent 34.00 ; wing 10.50-11.00 ; 

 tail 4.50; tarsus 1.60; bill 1.75; middle toe and claw 2.20. Adult ?: Smaller than ^: 

 Length about 18.00; wing 10.00; bill 1.60. Bill dusky, blotched with orange. Feet dingy 

 yellowish, with dusky webs and claws. Lacking the regular crescentic and wavy markings of 

 ^ ; variegated above with dusky and tawny brown, like 9 "f other species ; breast and belly 

 white, with more or less dusky spotting (whence the name " speckle-belly ''). Chestnut of ^ 

 wanting or restricted ; but wing-markings otherwise sufficiently distinctive. Young ^ resem- 

 bling 9- One of the most widely diffused of Ducks, in most parts of the world; nearly 

 throughout North America, and not specially arctic in the breeding season, nesting in much 

 of Western U. S., especially in the interior. Nest on ground, sometimes in trees ; eggs 8-12, 

 oval, creamy- white, a tritle over 2.00 by about 1.55. (The name Gadwall was formerly also 

 Gaddel (Merrett, 1667), Gadwal, Gadwale, Gadwell; origin obscure and etymology unknown.) 

 3IARE'CA. (S. Am. mareca, Brazilian name of a kind of teal.) Widgeon or Wigeon. 

 Bill shorter than head, rather high and narrow at base, parallel-sided, with rounded end; 

 nail occupying its middle third ; upper lateral re-entrance short and open ; nostrils high up and 

 not very near base; lamellje few and coarse, only 15 or fewer fairly protrusive on side view. 

 Tail pointed, of 14-15 feathers, not half as long as wing. Bill and feet dark-colored; belly 

 and middle and greater wing-coverts white; top of head white or light; speculum green, 

 black-bordered. (As subgenus of Anas in A. 0. U. Lists, 1886-95 ; as full genus in 1899 

 (9th Suppl. List), as it has always been in the Key.) 



Obs. — The student who may be perplexed by the continual recurrence of the name " Widgeon " or " Wigeon " in 

 different connections, may be here reminded that the English name is now properly applied only to birds of this genus, 

 Mareca ; but that in popular parlance, with or without a qualifying term, it means almost any kind of Duck except the 

 Mallard — just as " Brant " in the mouths of the people means any kind of Goose except the regular old Honker, 

 Brania canadensis. 



Analysis of Species. 

 Head and neck cinnamon-red, scarcely varied ; with mere traces of green, if any ; top of head creamy or white 



penelope 

 Head and neck grayish, speckled with dusky ; sides of head with a broad patch of green, top white or nearly so 



americana 



M. penel'ope. (Gr. nr]vf\6Trr], Penelope, Lat. Penelope or Penelopa, a mythological charac- 

 ter, daughter of Icarius and Periboea, wife of Ulysses, and mother of Telemachus, celebrated 

 for her virtue. But the use of the name in ornithology may be a mistake for nrjveXoyj/, penelops, 

 Lat. penelops, a kind of Duck so called by Pliny.) European Wigeon. Whistler. 

 Whewer. Whew. Whim. Size and general character of the next species; difl'ering as 



