l68 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Lake, Oct. 8, 1888. It was with a flock of Mallards" (Richard- 

 son); "-Julius George shot one at Thompson in 1903, and I traded 

 a Mallard for it" (Halvorsen). 



Genus Chaulelasmus Bonaparte. 



32. (135). Chaidc/asviHs slreperiis (Linn.). Gadwall. 



The Gadwall or Gray Duck is reported by most observers in the 

 state as a tolerably common migrant, though a few report it as 

 rare. Keyes and Williams (Birds of Iowa, Proc. Davenport Acad. 

 Sci., 1S89, 116) gives the Gadwall as a "spring and fall migrant, 

 rather common. Doubtless breeds in northern Iowa, inasmuch 

 as the young have been taken at 'the Lakes' in August." 



No records of the species nesting in Iowa came to my notice 

 until W. H. Bingaman sent me a check list on which was marked 

 "rare; two nests taken" (Kossuth county). In a recent letter he 

 saj-s: "I secured a set of ten eggs of the Gadwall at Anderson's 

 Slough, five miles northwest of Algona, on May 29, 1901. Have 

 found the young almost every year since at that place. It is also 

 reported breeding at Union Slough in this county. 



Genus Mareca Stephens. 



33. (137). Mareca americana (Gmel.) Baldpate. 



The Baldpate or American Widgeon is a tolerably common 

 migrant in mo3t parts of the state, only a few observers reporting 

 it rare. It appears to be more uniformly common along the Mis- 

 sissippi and Missouri rivers than in the interior of the state. C. 

 F. Henning states that "this handsome species arrives a little 

 later than some of the other ducks, and prefers the Des Moines 

 River to the small ponds. It is rarely met with in Boone county." 

 According to Kumlien and Hollister (Bds. of Wis., 1903, 18), "this 

 species is to a certain extent a parasite of the Canvasback, allow- 

 ing the latter to dive and bring to the surface a bill full of Naiad- 

 acese, and gobbling up the nutlets before the rightful owner can 

 get at them." The Baldpate is not known to nest in Iowa. In 

 North Dakota, where I found many nests of the species in 1899, 

 the eggs were deposited later in the season than those of most 

 other ducks, very few sets being completed before June 20. 



