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ANAS STREPERA 
When the birds have reached the nesting grounds they may be seen engaged in the 
so-called nuptial flights so characteristic of the Mallard, Pintail, Widgeon and 
Teal. Those who have been fortunate enough to witness these flights have described 
them as among the most beautiful evolutions common to water-fowl. F. INI. Chap- 
man (1908) described the birds as “going at full speed and twisting and turning 
with the erratic flight of a barn swallow.” A more recent and detailed description is 
given by Wetmore (1920) who observed them in New Mexico. He says that the 
mating flight is constantly seen on the breeding grounds, and is apparently more 
common than in other ducks. “The female rose with a slow flapping flight, with 
usually two males in pursuit, calling and whistling constantly. First one, then the 
other male swung in front of her, set his wings, inclined his body upward to show his 
handsome markings, and after a few seconds dropped back again to his former 
position.” Wetmore evidently considers this a part of the display, and noted 
that late in the season one of the males was always apparently more favored than 
the other, flying close to the female so that his wings struck hers in passing, making 
a rattling noise. During these flights the birds often rose to three hundred yards 
and darted from side to side, flying sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly. 
The mating act is described by Wetmore as follows: the male swam toward the 
female, bowing by extending his neck until his head was erect, then retracting it 
(this is the ordinary type of display). He then approached, pressing his breast 
against the sides of the female, and shoving her easily first on one side then on the 
other, biting her back and rump gently as he did so. After a few seconds she lowered 
her body in the water and copulation took place with the female entirely submerged, 
save for the crown of her head, while half of the body of the male was under water. 
As the female emerged the male turned immediately to face her, bowing deeply and 
giving a deep reedy call as he did so. The postlude, then, is evidently quite different 
from that of the Mallard. 
The Gadwall nests in the same localities as do Mallard, Pintail, Widgeon and 
Teal, and so far as known the nest is always on the ground, differing in no way from 
the nest of other surface-feeders. The clutch numbers from seven to thirteen, the 
average for a full clutch being probably between ten and eleven. Fifteen eggs seems 
to be the highest number recorded (V. Bailey, MS.) . The sets are perhaps larger under 
the favorable conditions of our western prairies than they are in Europe, where nine 
seems to be the usual number (Naumann, 1896-1905). The Gadwall apparently 
never deposits its eggs indiscriminately in the nests of other birds, but, as remarked 
above, the Baldpate, Lesser Scaup and White-winged Scoters have been found laying 
in Gadwalls’ nests. The eggs are ordinarily bluntly oval in shape, smooth and glossy, 
varying in color from cream to grayish green. Eggs in the U.S. National Museum 
measure from 51-55.5 mm. in length and 37.5-40 mm. in breadth (Grinnell, 
Bryant and Storer, 1918). Larger and smaller eggs are listed by Naumann (1896- 
