GADWALL. 105 



Lawrence, New England and Long Island, and to the 

 south of this, generally along the Atlantic coast. A 

 female was captured in Bermuda in 1849. 



The gadwall is not uncommon in Illinois, Minne- 

 sota and generally through the Mississippi Valley, and 

 formerly bred to some extent over the whole country. 

 It is said to be common in California in winter and 

 has been taken on the Pacific coast of Mexico, as well 

 as in British Columbia. Its chief breeding grounds, 

 however, appear to be north of the United States, al- 

 though no doubt to some extent it passes the summer 

 in the high mountains of the main range from Colorado 

 northward. 



The male gadwall is a very handsome bird, particu- 

 larly striking in his combination of quiet yet effective 

 colors. There are some things about the species which 

 remind one strongly of the widgeon. Often a large 

 flock of widgeons may include a small number of gad- 

 walls, and often the gunner will see from his blind a 

 small flock of birds approaching him, which at first he 

 imagines to be widgeons, but which, when they have 

 come closer, prove gadwalls. 



It is difiEicult to understand why the gadwall Is so 

 scarce a bird. It is true that in his ornithological re- 

 port of the Survey of the Fortieth Parallel Mr. Ridg- 

 way tells us that he found it by far the most numerous 

 duck during the breeding season in Western Nevada, 

 where, in the valley of the Truckee River from the base 

 of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Pyramid Lake, it 

 outnumbered all other species together. Yet there ap- 



