286 AMEEICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



not SO much vitality as some of their congeners, hence 

 they do not require such heavy shot, No. 5 being suffi- 

 ciently large for shooting them. 



The American widgeon, or bald-pate {Mareca ameri- 

 cana), is not only abundant, but an excellent table bird. 

 It may be readily recognized by its bald, or whitish head^ 

 its grayish neck, brownish-red breast, white under parts' 

 and light brownish-red and brownish-black upper parts.' 

 It weighs less than two pounds; decoys promptly to mal- 

 lard stools, and answers the mallard call. Having small 

 vital power, and the habit of clustering together when 

 flying, several may be killed with one volley. 



The shoveller, or spoonbill, (Spatula dypeata), seldom 

 congregates in such large flocks as the preceding species. 

 It is fond of the society of the mallards, and decoys to the 

 stools and calls of the latter. When teams are in flight 

 they keep close together; hence it is an easy matter to 

 bag a large number with both barrels, for a slight blow 

 is sufficient to kill one. When rising from the water in 

 a state of alarm, they bound directly upward for a dis- 

 tance of several feet before fleeing. They are not very 

 wary, and being poor divers, they try to escape by hiding 

 in weeds, rather than by getting under water, as others 

 do. They may be readily recognized by the form of the 

 bill, which is twice as wide at the tip as at the base. 

 They have reddish feet; a grayish-black h\\\, tinged with 

 yellow; the head and the upper part of the neck'are of a 

 deep-green hue, with purplisli reflections; the forcbreast 

 is white; the bill, a purplish-chestnut; the wing coverts 

 are blue; the lower tail-coverts are greenish-black, with 

 green and blue reflections; the axillaries and lower wing- 

 coverts are white; and the tail is composed of fourteen 

 acute feathers, the two in t!>e middle being a little longer 

 than those next to them. The male has a leno-th of 

 about twenty-one inches, and often weighs over a pound 

 and a half. The female, which closely resembles the 



