GADWALL 
151 
patches at the margins of broads, busily devouring grasshoppers, crickets and 
(strange though it may seem, it is the fact) small moths and butterflies.” 
Courtship and Nesting. In all parts of its range the Gadwall breeds a little 
later than the Mallard, perhaps averaging nearly three weeks later. In America, 
where the Mallard lays chiefly in April and early May, the Gadwall lays in the latter 
half of May and in June. In the great breeding center, in North Dakota, for ex- 
ample, Job (1902) found them laying from June 10 on, and Bent (1901-02) found 
full clutches of eggs in various stages of incubation on June 15, while in southern 
Saskatchewan most records are for late June (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909). An 
Idaho record is for late June (Merriam, 1873), and in Montana downy young may 
be seen in June and July (A. A. Saunders, 1921). In Washington and Oregon it 
breeds not earlier than June (W. L. Dawson and Bowles, 1909; U. S. Biological 
Survey records) ; at Lake Burford, New Mexico, females were beginning to lay at 
the end of May (Wetmore, 1920). Southern California dates are mostly for June. 
In Iceland a clutch was found as early as June 12 and a female with downy young 
was taken in the first days of August (Hantzsch, 1905). The breeding records for 
Scotland seem to be June dates (Baxter and Rintoul, 1920) but in Germany the 
species is said to lay chiefly in the second half of May (Naumann, 1896-1905). 
Eggs were taken in late May in Hungary, and at the same period in Bulgaria and 
southern Russia. In Transcaspia eggs were taken in the middle of May (Naumann, 
1896-1905). On the lower Ob, Finsch (1879) saw a female and downy young on 
July 23, the most northern breeding record. 
Display can be seen as well in captive specimens as in the wild, and is a far simpler 
performance than that of the Mallard (see Plate 32). Early in May the male of a 
pair which I recently had would perform actively every afternoon. The neck was 
held perpendicularly and the head moved straight up and down many times, the 
whole carriage of the bird on the water being very erect and animated. During this 
exhibition a sort of lump appeared in the throat, but I could hear no sound, even 
though the birds were only a few feet away. I have even seen this up-and-down 
motion of the head carried out while the male was running about on the bank. 
But I have not seen the male bend over and touch his abdomen with his bill, the 
“No. 2 posture” of Wormald (1913), and one so characteristic of the Mallard, Pintail 
and Teal. Heinroth (1911) also is very definite on this point, though Wormald 
(1913) implies that it is occasionally indulged in. The courtship note is a very loud, 
monotonous croaking noise, and this is the only call I have heard. According to 
Heinroth (1911), however, this call is immediately preceded by a high whistle and 
Wetmore (1920) also speaks of a “shrill whistled call” heard during the breeding 
season. It seems as if we still had a good deal to learn about duck language, espe- 
cially courtship notes. 
