GADWALL 
147 
or the lower Amur, and is probably of very exceptional occurrence east of longitude 120° east and 
between 40° and 50° north latitude. 
Migration 
I KNOW of nothing concerning the migration of this species which could be called characteristic. 
The comparative proximity of the breeding and wintering ranges results very naturally in a some- 
what less extended period of migration activity than is the case with some ducks. In northern Africa 
Gadwall apparently start north as early as February (Whitaker, 1905) and the same is true of south- 
ern sections of Europe, the Tyrol, for example. In most parts of southern Europe the species passes 
in early March, arriving in central Europe about March 20 to 25. For Hungary the average date of 
arrival for fifteen years was March 22. The birds reach northern Germany in late March and early 
April. Apparently there is no more activity after April 15. In autumn the birds rarely start south 
as early as September, but leave Germany in October, passing through Switzerland in October and 
November, and arriving at Tunis in late October and November. 
In Asia the birds seem to migrate somewhat earlier in the autumn, some appearing in the Him- 
alayas in late September. But they do not arrive in the plains of India until October or even Novem- 
ber. In spring they start north in March and pass through the Himalayas in the course of that 
month and the next, lingering as late as May in Kashmir and surrounding districts, and even so far 
south as Sind. 
For America a few dates from Cooke (1906) will suffice to illustrate similar conditions. The birds 
arrive in Iowa and Colorado in the first half of March, farther north in Minnesota and Montana 
about April 1, and in their northernmost range, Manitoba, about April 20, Saskatchewan, April 25. 
Data for the autumn migration are very scant, but what there are seem to indicate a somewhat earlier 
passage than that seen in Europe and Asia. Some of the birds arrived as far south as the southern 
end of Lower California in late September, and the species was abundant in northern Mexico about 
the same time. Farther south, however, at Mazatlan and in the Valle de Mexico they do not appear 
to be common until November. They linger in the northern United States, Minnesota, for example, 
until early November. 
It seems quite certain from the scarcity of spring records for the North Atlantic coast, that the 
spring migration is over a more westerly route and is perhaps more concentrated. 
The few young Gadwall that have been banded in England point to the existence of a local 
stock which does not leave the British Isles in winter. 
GENERAL HABITS 
Haunts. The Gadwall is somewhat distantly related to the Mallard, approaching 
more nearly the Widgeon and the Falcated Teal. Although its range is very ex- 
tensive it is a common bird in only a few districts, for it is almost everywhere vastly 
outnumbered by Mallard, Widgeon, Pintail and Teal. It is, far more than the other 
surface-feeders, a strictly fresh-water duck. In England, says Millais (1902), it will 
at times rest on the sea by day, although it is even less a marine bird than the 
Mallard. The island of Tiree (Inner Hebrides, Scotland), is the only place I have 
‘ ever heard of where Gadwall stay on the open sea during daylight hours (Harvie- 
Brown and Buckley, 1892). On our own Atlantic coast they are very seldom taken 
on salt-marshes, and in California they avoid both the salt water and the alkali 
ponds (Grinnell, Bryant and Storer, 1918). Their regular habitat differs not at all 
