140 
ANAS STREPERA 
Iris dark brown. Bill with a dark area down middle of culmen and light orange on the sides. Legs 
and feet yellow orange, paler than in the male. 
Wing 240-248 mm.; bill 37-42; tarsus 38-41. 
At breeding time the adult female becomes very much darker on the upper side, owing to the wear 
of the light feather-edges. Lord Percy wTites me that this is always so, and that the majority are 
distinctly more heavily spotted underneath. 
Young Fem.vle in First (Juvenal) Plumage: Resembles adult female, but is thickly spotted all 
over lower side. The white of the speculum is gray and there is no black patch on the greater coverts. 
The color of the mantle and scapulars is very close to that of the adult plumage, but the mantle is 
more uniform and the feathers usually lack the light bars of the adult bird. 
Young Male in First Plumage: Very closely resembles female at a similar stage of development 
but can probably always be told by the light bars which occur on the feathers of the mantle. These 
feathers are nearly uniform in the young female and have no bars. 
Young Male beginning to assume Adult Plumage: A few of the black and white feathers appear 
upon the upper breast and the lower abdomen begins to lose the spots. Llpper side with a few adult 
mantle feathers showing, the chestnut patch appearing, and the speculum nearly like that of adult. 
Flank feathers more or less vermiculated. Long tertials not developed. Rump and upper tail- 
cov'erts still brown. Adult plumage not complete till spring. 
Male in Eclipse Plumage: The resemblance to the female is verj’ close but the wing remains as in 
the winter plumage. 
Downy Young: Very closely resembles Mallard, and not easily distinguished from it. The streak 
through the eye is, however, much less pronounced, and the stripe down the back of the neck is nar- 
rower and lighter in color. In a specimen in the Museum of Comparative Zoology about ten days 
old, the bill is described as dusky brownish on upper mandible and bright ochraceous yellow on the 
lower. The feet are dusky vinaceous, and the webs are black. Lord Percy writes me that in his 
series, the downy Mallards are distinctly greener all over than Gadwalls, and have the thigh spots 
greener. Mr. A. C. Bent says that Gadwalls are always paler in down color than Mallards. 
DISTRIBUTION 
Breeding Range 
The range of the Gadwall is similar to that of the Shoveller but extends neither so far north nor so 
far south. Its main breeding range lies between 30° and 60° north latitude, though it nests princi- 
North pally between 40° and 50° north latitude. In America its range is not nearly so extensive 
America as that of the Shoveller, for apparently it does not breed south of about 37° or 38° north 
latitude, or north of about 57° north latitude except in unusual cases. Longitudinally it breeds from 
the Pacific coast eastward regularly to Lake Michigan. From the western shore of Lake Michigan 
and the northern peninsula of Michigan the breeding limit runs northwest to the western shore of 
Lake Winnipeg, thence northward and westward through Athabasca south of about 57°, and west to 
Lesser Slave Lake; thence southwestward through central British Columbia, to the Pacific 
coast, which it follows south almost to Los Angeles. Here it bends inland, defiecting slightly to the 
south to include northern Arizona and New Mexico, whence it runs northeastward through Kansas 
and Iowa to Lake Michigan. Retracing this area we find it recorded for various districts as follows : 
formerly breeding in Wisconsin near Lake Koshkonong (Cooke, 1906) and still breeding in some 
sections (Cory, 1909). For Manitoba it has lieen variously reported nesting by Dippie {fide J. and 
