THE AMERICAN WIDGEON. 



771 



ONE of our best-known ducks is the Baklpate, nuicli more coinnionly 

 called the American Widgeon. During fah. winter, and spring it is the most 

 numerous of all ducks in Washington, save possibly the Bluebills and Scoters. 

 Large numbers of them congregate upon the tide tlats of Puget Sound, and 

 the bird is abundant also <m the interior waters. Constant persecution, how- 

 ever, has greatly reduced their ranks, as is the case with the entire duck family, 

 and possibly for this reason their migratory habits ha\e undergone a marked 

 change. Eight or ten years ago they used Uj appear in en(jrmous flocks during 

 the first week in October, at which ])erio(l I have seen on the Xisqualh' Flats, 

 near Tacoma, 

 what was es- 

 t i m a t e d at 

 about fi\-e 

 h u n il r e d 

 thousand, all 

 in the air at 

 one time. For 

 the past two 

 or three 

 years, h o w - 

 e V e r , no 

 Widgeon to 

 speak of have 

 appeared be- 

 fore Novem- 

 ber or De- 

 cember, and 

 then in such 

 greatly re- 

 duced num- 

 bers as to 



give rise to serious fear, nut unh' as to the abundance, Ijul as to the existence 

 of future generations. 



Almost strictly \'egetarian as to diet their food in fall and winter consists 

 of seeds, water-weeds, sijft roots, and an occasional insect, tlms making tliem 

 more desirable as table birds than the average duck. In late January and 

 February, however, they confine their feeding largelv to the water-soaked 

 fields, digging up the young grass with their bills and eating roots and all. 

 At this season they are, with the single exception of the Pintail, perhaps the 

 most deliciously flavored of our W'ashington ducks. 



W^idgeon are prime favorites with ever\' sportsman, largelv because they 

 are so willing to come in and visit a few well-nlaced wooden decovs. So 



Tnhcn in Sf^okane Coinily, Photo by the Author. 



SILXEK LAKE, -A WEI.L-KN"0\\\ DUCK SW.\MP. 



