RIVER DUCKS. 103 



135. Anas strepera Linn. GADWALL; GRAY DUCK. Ad. $ . 



Top of the head streaked with rufous-brown and black ; sides of the head and 

 neck pale buffy, thickly streaked or spotted with black ; breast and neck all 

 around black, each feather with a border and an internal ring of white, giving 

 the plumage a beautifully scaled appearance ; belly white or grayish ; rump, 

 upper and under tail-coverts black ; lesser wing-coverts chestnut. Ad. 9 . 

 Head and throat as in the male ; back fuscous margined with buffy ; breast 

 and sides ochraceous buffy, thickly spotted with blackish ; belly and under 

 tail-coverts white, more or less thickly spotted with blackish ; little or no 

 chestnut on wing-coverts ; speculum ashy gray and white ; axillars and under 

 wing-co verts pure white. L., 19-50; W., 10-40; Tar., 1-55; B., T70. 



Range. Northern hemisphere ; in America, breeds in the interior locally 

 from Kansas northward to the arctic regions ; known to breed on the Atlantic 

 coast only at Anticosti ; winters from Virginia to Florida and Texas. 



Washington, common W. V., Sept. to Apl. Long Island, A. V. 



Egg*, eight to twelve, pale buff or buffy white, 2-09 x 1-57 (Ridgw.). 



This species is common in the interior and in Florida, but is rather 

 rare in the other Atlantic States. Its call-note is said to resemble that 

 of the Mallard, " but is rather more shrill, and frequently repeated." 



136. Anas penelope Linn. EUROPEAN WIDGEON. Ad. $. Crown 

 creamy buff; throat blackish, rest of head and neck rufous-brown ; upper 

 breast vinaceous, lower breast and belly white ; sides and back finely marked 

 with wavy black and white lines. Ad. 9 . Head and throat deep ochraceous- 

 buff, finely streaked and barred with black, darker above ; upper breast and 

 sides much the same color, but without black markings ; lower breast and 

 belly white ; back grayish brown, the feathers with small ochraceous buffy 

 bars; tertials fuscous, bordered by deep ochraceous bvjf'y ; greater wing-cov- 

 erts brownish gray, usually whiter on the outer webs and tipped with black. 

 W., 10-50 ; B./1-40. 



Remarks. The females of the European and American Widgeons bear a 

 general resemblance to one another. Their distinguishing characters are 

 mainly in the color of the head and throat, which are brown in the European 

 species, and in the color of the greater wing-coverts, which are whiter in the 

 American bird. I have seen a caged male in the summer in a plumage closely 

 resembling that of the female. Probably a similar change of plumage occurs 

 in our A. americana. 



Range. Northern parts of tho Old World; in North America breeds in 

 the Aleutian Islands, and occurs occasionally in the eastern United States. 



Washington, A. V., two records. Long Island, A. V. 



Eggs, five to eight, buft'y white, 2-23 x 1-53. 



"The call-note of the male is a shrill, whistling ichee-you, whence 

 the local names ' Whew Duck ' and ' Whewer ' ; but the female utters 

 a low purr-ing growl. Both sexes, however, rise in silence " (Saunders). 



137. Anas americana Gmel. BALDPATE; AMERICAN WIDGEON. 

 Ad. <5 . Middle of the crown white or buffy ; sides of the crown, from the eye 



