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498 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Male.— Head and neck brownish-white, each feather spotted with dusky; the 
top of head tinged with reddish; lower part of neck, with forepart of breast and 
back, blackish, with concentric narrow bars of white, giving a scaled appearance to 
the feathers; interscapular region, outermost scapulars, and sides of the body, finely 
waved transversely with black and white; middle wing coverts chestnut, the 
greater velvet-black, succeeded by a pure-white speculum, bordered externally by 
hoary-gray, succeeded by black; crissum and upper tail coverts black; longest ter- 
tials hoary plumbeous-gray; innermost scapulars with a reddish tinge; inside of 
wing and axillars pure-white; bill black; iris hazel. 
Female. — With the bill dusky, edged with reddish; wing somewhat like that of 
the male, but with the chestnut-red more restricted. 
Length, twenty-two inches; wing, ten and fifty one-hundredths; tarsus, one and 
sixty-four one-hundredths; commissure, two and four one-hundredths inches. 
The Gadwall is a rare autumnal visitor in New England, 
and is seldom seen in the spring as it is passing to its 
northern breeding-places. Audubon, in describing its habits, 
says, — 
‘“‘This species dives well on occasion, especially on being 
wounded. At the appearance of danger, it rises on wing 
— whether from the ground or from the water — at a single 
spring, in the manner of the Mallard; and, like it also, 
ascends almost perpendicularly for several yards, after 
which it moves off in a direct course with great celerity. I 
have never seen it dive on the flash of the gun; but, when 
approached, it always swims to the opposite part of the 
pond, and, when the danger increases, flies off. On being 
wounded, it sometimes, by diving, makes its escape among 
the grass, where it squats, and remains concealed. It walks 
with ease, and prettily, often making incursions upon the 
land, when the ponds are not surrounded by trees, for 
the purpose of searching for food. It nibbles the tender 
shoots and blades of grasses with apparent pleasure; and 
will feed on beech-nuts, acorns, and seeds of all kinds of 
eraminex, as well as on tadpoles, small fishes, and leeches. 
After rain, it alights in cornfields, like the Mallard, and 
picks up the scattered grains of maize.” 
The eggs of this species are from eight to twelve in num- 
ber. Their color is a pale-drab, with a slight olivaceous tint: 
