402 FEATHERED GAME 



be known by the white speculum. Young birds 

 are of a dull grayish cast. 



The White-wing inhabits both coasts of North 

 America, the larger inland lakes, and is also 

 represented in the Old World by a species very 

 close to our own bird. 



They breed through the interior from the 

 northern States of the Union northward into 

 the Arctic regions, and along both coasts of 

 North America north from the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence in the east and from British Columbia in 

 the west, by far the greater number going well 

 beyond civilization. They make a large nest, 

 usually placed at the edge of some body of 

 fresh water, line it with down from their own 

 bodies, and in it lay from six to eight eggs. 

 They often breed far inland and a long way 

 from salt water. Though every season a good 

 sized flock summers among the outer islands of 

 Casco Bay there is no evidence of their breeding 

 there, and they are probably the crippled birds 

 left behind by the spring flight, unable to con- 

 tinue their journey at the time and so unmated. 



Apparently slow and heavy, when once on the 

 wing their flight is powerful and often long 

 protracted, usually traveling low over the water 



