50 



DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



light vinaceous brown ; back, rump, and sides gray crossed by fine wavy 

 black and white lines ; wing with green speculum framed in black, and 

 bordered above by large white patch ; under, and sides of upper, tail 

 coverts, black. Adult female : head and neck thickly specked all over 

 with dusky on buff ; breast, sides, and back mottled with duskv and buff ; 

 speculum grayish, bordered above and below by narrow white tips to 

 feathers. Young male : head and neck brown, thickly specked with black ; 

 breast and sides dull brown, back mottled duskv and brown. Length: 18 

 20, wing 10-11, bill 1.35-1.45. 



Distribution. Northern part of Old World, occurring rarely in eastern 

 United States, Nebraska, California, and Alaska. 



137. Mareca americana (GmeL). BALDPATE. 



Adult male. Bill blue with black tip ; crown white, bordered on sides 



and back with wide 

 patch of metallic 

 green ; rest of head 

 and neck finely 

 specked with dusky 

 over buffy ; chest 

 and sides grayish 

 lavender or vina- 

 ceous, often barred 

 and specked with 

 dusky ; belly white ; 

 back dark gray 

 crossed with wavy 

 lines of black, white, 

 and lavender ; spec- 



. c-,, ulum green, framed 



Fig. Go. ' , , 



in velvety black ; 



bordered above by large white patch ; lower, and sides of upper, tail 

 coverts, black. Adult female : head and neck finely specked with dusky 

 on whitish ground, the dusky predominating on top of head ; chest, sides, 

 and back dull brown, mottled with blackish ; belly white ; wing with dull 

 black speculum bordered above and below by white. Length: 18-22, wing 

 10.25-11.00, bill 1.30-1.50. 



Distribution. Whole of North America, breeding from Texas to North 

 Dakota, and northward. 



Nest. On the ground, in a bunch of grass, under a bush, or in a depres- 

 sion lined with grass, leaves, and down. Eggs: 10 or 11, creamy or buffy 

 white. 



Like most of the shoal water ducks, Colonel Goss tells us, the 

 baldpates are to be looked for along the edges of lagoons, grassy 

 lakes, and pools of water. The birds are not shy, he says, and " their 

 note, a sort of whew, whew, whew, uttered while feeding and swim- 

 ming, enables the hunter to locate them in the thickest growth of 

 water plants ; and when in the air the whistling noise made by their 

 wings heralds their approach." Ordinarily their food habits are the 

 same as those of the gadwall, but in the fall they often attach them- 

 selves to a party of canvas-backs or other deep water ducks, that 

 feed on Vallisneria, and following them about lie in wait while the 



