84 



GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



EUROPEAN WIDGEON {Mareca penelope). 



Length. — About 18 inches. 



Adult Male. — Crown creamy buff; throat black; rest of head and neck 



chestnut or cinnamon nrf, mostly without green spots; otherwise similar 



to Baldpate. 

 Female and Young. — Head and neck strongly tinged with cinnamon; 



otherwise quite similar to female Baldpate. 

 Notes. — A shrill, whistled wh'ee-you or mce-you, the first note loudest and 



prolonged. Female, a low note, like kir-r-r (Chapman). 

 Range. — Northern part of eastern hemisphere. Occurs occasionally in 



winter and in migration from Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Nova 



Scotia, Newfoundland and Greenland south to Nebraska, Missouri, 



Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida; and in Alaska, British 



Columbia and California. 



History. 



The European Widgeon is rated as a wanderer from the 

 Old World. A statement that the bird has been taken here, 

 made by Samuels and recorded by Dr. J. A. Allen, ^ is prob- 

 ably authentic, and an adult male was taken in Monponsett 

 Pond, near Halifax, Mass., October 20, 1899.- There are 

 seven records for New York State, and another bird, taken 

 on Long Island, was apparently breeding. Mr. Foster Parker 

 states that several more have been taken at Cayuga (Eaton). 

 It is possible that many European Widgeons have been taken 

 in this country, but have not been recognized as such, and 

 we may yet have to revise our ideas regarding their breeding 

 range. 



Fig. 5. — Axillars of Baldpate. Axillars of European Widgeon. Reduced. (After Phillips.) 



Mr. Outran! Bangs has called attention to the fact that 

 the axillars or long feathers under the wings of the Baldpate 

 are white, while in the European Widgeon these feathers 



1 Pioc. Essex Inst., 1864, p. 88. 



2 Brewster, William: Auk, 1901, p. 135. 



