ANAS STREPERA 
15G 
even becoming more common as a breeding bird in central and eastern Germany, 
and in eastern Galicia (von Homeyer, 1881; Prazak, 1898). In France, on the other 
hand, it certainly does not seem to be increasing, and is perhaps becoming even more 
rare than formerly (Ternier and Masse, 1907). I was told by several bird-lovers in 
Holland that it was getting very scarce all over western Europe and that it had 
been taken only once in the Nadermeer Lake, near Amsterdam, in recent years. 
There are too few notes to enable one to establish its status in Asia, but in India it 
is perhaps the most abundant duck in Hindustan. In Bengal it is twice as common 
as all other ducks combined (Baker, 1908)! 
Enemies. So far as known the enemies of the Gadwall are the same as those of 
the Mallard and other surface-feeding ducks. 
Damage. Probably much less damage is done to crops by this species than by 
some of its more numerous relatives. 
Food Value. I have no reason to think that the flesh of the Gadwall differs in 
any way from that of other shoal-water ducks killed under similar conditions. Audu- 
bon classed it as equal to that of the Redhead {Nyroca amcricana) and in only one 
place have I found it mentioned as inferior. Belding and Bendire {fide Grinnell, 
Bryant and Storer, 1918) speak of it as sometimes oily, fishy and inedible in Cali- 
fornia. Others have called attention to a “sedgy” taste. In India its reputation is as 
high as in other parts of the world, and Baker (1908) regards it as not even second 
to the Mallard or Pintail. He says the birds always arrive in India in better condition 
than the Mallard or else they fatten more rapidly after arriving. The fact that the 
Mallard comes a greater distance on migration may perhaps explain this. 
Hunt. The sportsman of our Atlantic coast has little chance to note the char- 
acteristics of this duck, for it does not come very readily to decoys, and is really only 
an accidental portion of the bag. In Europe, too, it is a rare game-bird, taken only 
occasionally in the decoy-pipes, and by the hut-shooters of the French marshes. In 
India as many as eighty have been taken by three guns in one of the great duck 
drives so vividly described by Baker (1908). In these hunts a line of boats is rowed 
slowly the length of one of the large jheels, returning in the evening. A shooter sta- 
tioned in the bow of each boat is kept busy shooting at Gadwall, Pintail, Pochards, 
Cotton Teal and Tree Ducks. Methods of taking Gadwall do not differ from those 
employed in getting at most other kinds of shoal-water ducks. 
Behavior in Captivity. Gadwall are not sufficiently showy birds to be general 
favorities with aviculturalists. But they do extremely well, even though they cannot 
