242 



BRITISH BIRDS 



grey, each feather with a pale grey margin ; breast and belly white ; 

 flanks and vent grey; under tail-coverts bluish black; legs and 

 feet orange. Length, twenty-one inches. Female: head and 

 upper neck light brown mottled with dark ; lower hind neck and 

 upper parts brown ; speculum and under parts white. 



FIG. 81. GADWBLL. ^ natural size. 



The gadwell most nearly resembles the mallard, but is not so 

 richly coloured, and is smaller in size. It is a widely distributed 

 species, ranging over a greater portion of the northern hemisphere. 

 In the British Islands it is a winter visitor in small numbers, 

 very few pairs remaining to breed, except in one locality in Norfolk, 

 where it has been strictly protected for the last forty years, with the 

 result that it breeds regularly, and is abundant. Elsewhere it is 

 the rarest of the British freshwater ducks. The wings are long 

 and sharply pointed, and the flight exceedingly rapid. When flying 

 it frequently utters its cry, which resembles that of the mallard, 

 but is shriller in tone. Like the mallard, it is a night feeder ; during 

 the daylight hours it usually remains concealed in the closest cover. 

 Its nest, lined with dry grass and a quantity of down, is placed on 

 the ground at some distance from the waterside. Eight to twelve 

 bufnsh white eggs are laid. 



