WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 335 



back is the first, the red-head, or, according to some, the 

 widgeon is the second, and the scaup, or black-head, the 

 least deserving of the lot. 



It is worthy of remark, that within the last few years 

 the English widgeon, and the English green- winged teal, 

 atias Penelope, and anas Crecca, both of which are dis- 

 tinct varieties from the American kinds, distinguishable 

 by small though plain and immutable marks, are becoming 

 frequent among us, working their way, as it would seem, 

 from the north-east south-westerly, having been, until 

 within the last twenty-five years, unknown on this continent. 



The annexed cut represents the English widgeon, the 

 principal difference between which and the American bird 

 is, that the former has the whole of the wing-coverts pure 

 white, tipped with black, whereas in the latter the pri- 

 mary coverts are brown and the secondaries only white. 

 This distinction is well preserved in the cut, as also the 

 variation in the shape and coloring of the head and bill. 



