300 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE GADWALL. 



(Anas Strepera, Linn. Canard chipeau on ridciuic, 

 Temm.) 



THE Gadwall measures about nineteen inches 

 in length, and twenty-three in breadth. The bill 

 is flat, black, and two inches long, from the tip 

 to the corners of the mouth : the head, and upper 

 part of the neck, are of a rufous brown colour, 

 lightest on the throat and cheeks, and finely 

 speckled and dotted all over with black and 

 brown : the feathers on the lower part of the 

 neck, breast, and shoulders, look like scales, 

 beautifully margined and crossed with curved 

 black and white lines : those of the back, scapu- 

 lars, and sides, are ligjit brown, marked trans- 

 versely with narrower waved dusky streaks : the 

 belly and thighs are dingy white, more or less 



