294 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



nearly white, tlie feathers inflated ; from the eye backwards, to 

 the middle of the neck behind, extends a band of deep glossy 

 green, gold, and purple ; throat, chin, and sides of the neck 

 before, as far as the green extends, dull yellowish- white, thickly 

 speckled with black ; breast and hind part of the neck, hoary 

 bay, running in under the wings, where it is crossed with fine, 

 waving lines of black; whole belly, white; vent, black; back 

 and scapulars, black, thickly and beautifully crossed with undu- 

 lating lines of vmous bay; lower part of the back, more dusky; 

 tail-coverts, long, pointed, whitish, crossed as the back ; tail, 

 pointed, brownish-ash; the two middle feathers an inch longer 

 than the rest, and tapering ; shoulder of the wing, brownish- 

 ash; wing-coverts, immediately below, white, forming a large 

 spot; primaries, brownish-ash; middle secondaries, black, 

 glossed with green, forming the speculum ; tertials, black, 

 edged with white, between which, and the beauty spot, several 

 of the secondaries are white. 



" The female has the whole head and neck yellowish-white, 

 thickly speckled with black, very little rufous on the breast ; 

 the back is dark brown. The young males, as usual, very much 

 like the females during the first season, and do not receive their 

 full plumage until the second year. They are also subject to a 

 regular change every Spring and Autumn." 



This Fowl, it will be seen, resembles the English Widgeon, 

 Whewer, or Whim, both in appearance and habits. The Ame- 

 rican variety is, perhaps, a little heavier and the plumage more 

 rich. Widgeons do not feed much during the day, but remain 

 listlessly on the sand-flats or hid among the herbage of the 

 marshes; but as soon as night comes they are in motion, and 

 may be heard repairing in considerable numbers to the various 

 feeding-grounds that they are wont to frequent. These Fowl 

 are very abundant on the coast of Great Britain, and the num- 

 bers slaughtered in the course of a season by the Sportsmen 

 and Fowlers are enormous. They are much esteemed in Lon- 

 don, and eagerly sought after by the Poulterers as a ready ar- 

 ticle of sale. They are pursued by the English Punters almost 

 entirely by night; they lie in wait for them in those situations 

 that they are most likely to visit or pass over in their course to 

 the feeding-grounds. The best weather for this sport is a clear, 



