THE WIDGEON 297 



superior ability for his own benefit, snatching 

 the plunder the instant his victim's head ap- 

 pears above the water. Of course there is much 

 wrangling between the two upon the feeding 

 grounds, for no self-respecting duck can tamely 

 endure such high-handed treatment. 



The Widgeon ranks close to the canvasback 

 in table qualities. Perhaps this, with some oth- 

 ers of the ''river ducks," would rank equally 

 high but for the judicious advertising of the 

 canvasback 's good qualities by shrewd dealers. 

 In fact, many redheads are palmed off upon 

 the unsuspecting epicure as the ''aristocratic 

 canvasback. ' ' 



The Widgeon likes to doze in the sun on the 

 sandbars and in the quiet corners of the marsh 

 during the day, going to the feeding grounds 

 at night, usually traveling in small flocks with 

 rapid and well sustained flight, often moving 

 in "company front," the central birds leading 

 slightly. 



Very few are killed in the open water, most 

 meeting their fate in the early hours of the 

 morning at the blinds in the marshes, lured 

 on to their undoing by the seductive quack of 



