520 LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 



whole of their nourishment during the night, the Widgeon procures its food — con- 

 sisting of grass — in the daytime; and while the Mallard and the Teal are sporting 

 on the water or reposing on the banks, the Widgeon is devouring with avidity the 

 same kind of short grass on wliieh the Geese are found to feed. Though many tiocks 

 of Widgeons are known to aecomi)any the other Waterfowl in their nocturnal wan<l('r- 

 ings, the larger number of them pass the Avhole night where they have spent the day. 

 This is shown by their singular whistling noise, wliieh is heard at all hours. 



In March and April the Wiilgeons again move northward for the breeding-season, 

 a small nund)er remaining in the northern part of Scotland to breed about the lakes 

 of Sutherlaudshire. Mr. Selby, in his paper on the birds of that region, writes that 

 he was much pleased to observe several pairs of this species upon the snuiller lochs 

 near Lairg. They probably had their nests among the reeds and other herbage which 

 grew in their vicinity. Mr. Selby was not so fortunate as to find any of them, but 

 afterward, upon one of the islands of Lake Laoghall, he shot a female upon a nest of 

 seven eggs. This was placed in the midst of a large collection of rushes, and was 

 made of decayed rushes and reeds, with a lining of Avarm down from tlie bird's body. 

 The eggs are described as being smaller than those of the Mallard, and of a rich 

 creamy white color. They measure 2.13 inches in length and 1.50 in breadth. 



The note of the Widgeon is a shrill whistle, and on this account it is known in 

 some parts of England as the Whew Duck, and in France as the Canard >S!{ffeur. 



According to the observations of Mr. Kichard Dunn, the Widgeon is the most abun- 

 dant of all the Duck tribe in Lapland, frequenting the grassy swamps, lakes, and 

 rivers, appearing in pairs with the lir.st breaking-up of the ice. As soon as the female 

 begins to lay, the male loses his beautiful plumage, and secretes himself in the 

 swamps and inaccessible morasses. The female la3'S from five to eight eggs. The 

 young keep among the rushes and reeds in the lakes, the old birds betaking them- 

 selves to the shallows on the coast. The AN'idgeon leaves for the south early in 

 September, appearing in great fio(;ks on the coast of Norway and Sweden ; it entirely 

 leaves Sweden in the winter. 



Mareca americana. 



THE AMEBICAN WIDGEON ; BALD-FATE. 



Anas americana, Omel. S. X. I. ii. 1788, 526. — Wils. Am. Oin. VIII. 1814, 86, pi. 69, f. 1. — AuD. 



OiTi. Biog. IV. 1838, 337, \>\. 345 ; Syiiop. 1839, 279 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 259, pi. 389. 

 Mareca americana, Stei-iikxs, Shaw's Ouii. Zool. XII. ii. 1824, 135. —Sw. & Rich. V. B.A. II. 1831, 



445. —Baikd, B. N. Am. 1858, 783 ; Cat. X. Am. B. 1859, no. 58.'*. — Couem, Key, 1872, 286 ; 



Check List, 1873, no. 493 ; 2d ctl. 1382, no. 713 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 564. — IUdgw. Xom. N. 



Am. B. 1882, no. 607. 

 Mareca penclo^K, b., Blasiits, B. Eur. 1862, 21. 



Hab. North America iu general, north to Arctic Ocean, south to Guatemala and Cuba. Acci- 

 dental in Europe. Breeds nearly • iroiighout its range. 



Sp. Chak. Adult -male in wit .r.- Forehead and middle of crown (longitudinally) white, 

 generally inmiaculate ; ground-color of bead and neck white, sometimes more or less soiled with 

 grayish or brown, and thickly speckled with black ; a. broad space of metallic blackish green on 

 the side of the occiput, miming forward to the eye, and sometimes down the nape, where the 

 two spaces are confluent. Juguluiu plain pinkish viimceous ; sides and flanks the same, delicately 

 undulated with black ; lower tail-coverts velvety black ; rest of lower jiarts pure white. Btick 

 and scapulars grayish white, more or less tinged with the color of the sides, and similarly imdu- 

 lated with black. Wing-coverts immaculate pure white, the anterior portion of the lesser-covert 

 region cinereous, and the lai>t row tipped with velvety black ; sijeculum soft metallic green ante- 



