I06 'DUCK SHOOTING. 



pears to be no region known where it occurs in great 

 flocks, like those better known species with which it 

 commonly associates, as the widgeon and the pintail, 

 and, by comparison with other species, gadwalls are 

 very seldom killed. So far as we know, this bird ought 

 to be on the increase. It seems to differ from most 

 ducks in not being gregarious and in preferring to keep 

 in pairs or very small companies, perhaps made up of 

 the members of a single family. It pays little atten- 

 tion to decoys, and, in my experience, seldom comes to 

 them, although occasionally shot when flying by.* 



The gadwall has a number of common names, of 

 which two of the most familiar are gray duck, applied 

 also to two other species, and creek duck, which is 

 used along the Atlantic coast. Besides this it is known 

 as speckle-belly, from the dark markings often seen on 

 the under plumage; blaten duck, which is nearly a 

 translation of its Latin name ; Welsh drake and German 

 duck, given by Giraud and probably now obsolete. Its 

 similarity to the widgeon is indicated by its names, 

 widgeon and gray widgeon, used along the southern 

 Atlantic coast, and in England it is sometimes called 

 sand widgeon. 



The nest of the gadwall is built on the ground and is 

 a mere depression, lined with dried grass or leaves, and 

 sometimes with down. It is usually near the water's 

 edge and well concealed. The eggs are of a pale creamy 

 yellow. 



*See lengthy correspondence on this subject in Forest and 

 Stream, Vol. Iviii, January and February, 1902. 



