LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL, 93 



Plumages. — Ridgway (1887) describes the downy young as follows; 



Above, dark olive brown, relieved by a spot of greenish buff on posterior border of 

 each wing, one on each side of back, and one on each side of rump; top of head and 

 hind neck, dark olive, like back; rest of head and neck, with lower parts, pale olive 

 buff or fulvous, the side of the head with a dusky streak, extending from bill, through 

 eye, to occiput. 



When about 4 or 5 weeks old, in August, the young baldpate as- 

 sumes its first complete plumage, the wings being the last to reach 

 full development. In this first mottled plumage the sexes are much 

 ahke, but in the male the gray feathers of the back begin to appear 

 in September and the progress toward maturity proceeds rapidly; 

 the brown mottled feathers of the back are replaced by the gray ver- 

 miculated feathers of the adult and the motthng in the breast dis- 

 appears, leaving the clear vinaceous color of maturity; so that by 

 December or January the most forward birds have acquired a plum- 

 age which closely resembles that of the old bird, except on the wings, 

 which still show the gray mottling on the lesser wing coverts pecul- 

 iar to young birds. In some precocious individuals the lesser wing 

 coverts become nearly pure white before the first nuptial season, but 

 in most cases the immature wing is retained until the first postnup- 

 tial molt, which is complete. With both old and young birds the 

 molt into the eclipse plumage begins in June and the molt out of 

 this into the adult winter dress is not completed until October or 

 November. At this molt the white lesser wing coverts are assumed 

 by the young, old and young birds becoming indistinguishable. The 

 seasonal molts of the adult consist of the prolonged double molt of 

 the body plumage, into the eclipse in June and July and out of the 

 ecHpse in September and October, and the single molt of the flight 

 feathers in August. Old males in the eclipse plumage closely resem- 

 ble females, except for the wings, which are always distinctive. 



In the female the sequence of plumages is similar. During the first 

 winter and spring, young birds make considerable progress toward 

 maturity, but can be recognized by the immature wings. The fully 

 adult plumage is acquired during the second fall and winter. 



Food. — The baldpate feeds on or near the surface by dabbling in 

 the mud or tipping up in shallow water. Where not disturbed it is 

 liable to feed at any time during the day, though it is always more 

 active in the early morning or toward night. But, as it seldom enjoys 

 much security, it more often spends the day skulking in the reeds, 

 dozing on some sunny bank or playing about on open water at a safe 

 distance from land; then as dusk comes on it repairs in small flocks 

 to its feeding grounds, where it can feed in safety during the greater 

 part of the night. Its food is largely vegetable, consisting mainly of 

 the seeds and roots of grasses and various water plants. Dr. John 

 C. Phillips (1911) records the contents of stomachs of this species, 



