THE WIDGEON 295 



wall is a vegetable feeder, but it can put up with 

 a fish diet if the other sort of provender is hard 

 to come by. 



THE WIDGEON. 



(Mareca americana.) 



While not so numerous in our corner of the 

 continent as is the black duck, the Widgeon is 

 fairly abundant; perhaps more so than is gen- 

 erally supposed. Shy, wary and difficult of ap- 

 proach it is not always recognized at the safe 

 distance at which it usually takes flight. It is 

 by no means an unusual bird in our ponds and 

 lakes during the spring and fall flights, and 

 more common in the fresh waters than on the 

 coast. But it is in the sloughs and lakes of the 

 western States and the interior of Canada west- 

 ward and northwestward from Hudson Bay, 

 where they breed in great numbers, or in the 

 winter months among the rice swamps of the 

 south, that the Widgeon is in his glory. 



With us in New England most of them are 

 killed during the fall flights, for very little 

 spring shooting is done in this section. The 

 birds themselves move along more leisurely and 

 make longer stops on their fall travels than 



