144 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



dark oliTe, with a sepia tinge; a spot of pale greenish fuivons on the posterior half of the 

 wing, one on each side of the back, and one on each side of the rump. Lower parts. Inclod- 

 ing head and neck, pale fulvous; a distinct blackish olive stripe from bill to and back from 

 the eye, with a wide and conspicuous superciliary stripe of fulvous above it. 



The chief variation in the plumage of adult males of this spe- 

 cies consists in the extent of the green patch and the amout of 

 black spotting on the head, the pureness of the white on the 

 forehead, and the extent of the white patch on the wing-coverts. 

 The green patch on the sides of the occiput is usually poorly de- 

 fined, and broken up by lighter spotting; but in No. 21,426, 

 Washingt.on, D. C, and No. 84,712, from southern Ohio (Dr. F. 

 W. Langdon), it is as conspicuous as in the adult male of A. 

 caroUnensis, and of very similar extent and form. Anteriorly it 

 surrounds the eye, and posteriorly it passes down the nape, 

 where the two opposite spaces are confluent for the entire length 

 of the neck); its outlines are firm throughout, and its surface 

 is entirely unbroken by admixture of white. In the former speci- 

 men the black spotting is so aggregated on the throat that the 

 gular region is almost uniformly dusky, while the spots at the 

 lower end of the white portion of the neck are so large as al- 

 most to blend into a collar, uniting the green of the nape with 

 the black of the throat. All the other characters of the species 

 are very much exaggerated in this specimen. Younger speci- 

 mens, just possessed of the adult dress, are usually distinguished 

 by having the white wing-covert patch clouded with ash, the 

 green of the head poorly defined, and the white of the forehead 

 more or less speckled. 



"The Baldpate ranges over the whole of North America. In 

 winter it is common in the Gulf States and lower part of the 

 Misissippi Valley. It breeds chiefly in the North, but is known 

 to breed in Manitoba, Dakota. Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, 

 Illinois, and Texas. Its movements in migration resemble those 

 of the Gadwall." (Cooke.) 



"The Widgeon breeds rather abundantly throughout the whole 

 of British America, as far north as the Arctic Ocean, but onl^' 

 rarely in the extreme northern parts of the United States, both 

 east and west of the Rocky Mountains. In October and April it 

 visits in large numbers the rivers and marshes, as well as both 

 sea-coasts, of the northern United States, and is much sought by 

 hunters, its flesh being excellent, and the bird generally in good 



