ANAS AMERICANA. AMERICAN WIDGEON, OR BALD-PATE. 



This Fowl, like the Ked-Heads, during their sojourn on the 

 Chesapeake and Potomac, is the constant companion of the 

 Canvass-Back, upon whose superior skill in diving they depend 

 for a supply of the tender root of the Yalisineria, which they 

 filch from these Ducks as soon as ever they come to the top of 

 the water with it in their mouths. The Bald-Pates, as these 

 Ducks are most commonly called on the Chesapeake, are not far 

 inferior in flavor to the Canvass-Back, and when in good order 

 it is not easy to distinguish them from the above Duck, Those 

 killed on other streams, though excellent eating, will not com- 

 pare with those that feed on the flats of the Chesapeake. Wid- 

 geons are extensively scattered throughout the whole of our 

 Atlantic States, and are abundant in some of the West India 

 Islands ; they are well known in the Delaware Bay. 



DESCRIPTION. 



"The Widgeon, or Bald-Pate, measures twenty-two inches in 

 length, and thirty inches in extent ; the bill is of a slate color ; 

 the nail, black; the front and crown, cream-colored, sometimes 



