AMERICAN WIDGEON 
191 
Oregon 
Farther west it is said to be a rare summer resident as far south as Kansas (Goss, 1886; Bunker, 
1913) although H. Harris (1919) says it is not known to breed in the Kansas City region. It nests 
rarely in the sand-hill region of Nebraska too (U.S. Biological Survey notes; Bruner, Kansas 
Wolcott and Swenk, 1905; Oberholser, 1920), but various reports of its breeding in 
Louisiana need verification. It appears to be an imcommon breeding bird in South 
Dakota (McChesney, 1879; U.S. Biological Survey) but nests commonly in North Dakota (Coues, 
1874; Bent, 1901-02) and in Montana (Coues, 1874; A. A. Saunders, 1921). It is probably a summer 
resident to some extent in Wyoming (W. C. Knight, 1902) for it breeds, though not Wyoming 
commonly, in Colorado (W. L. Sclater, 1912), and probably in certain parts of New 
/Vrizotifl. 
Mexico, — Lake Burford (Wetmore, 1920), — and perhaps in the Mogollon Moun- 
tains in Arizona (Mearns, 1890). It nests also in parts of Utah (Wetmore, 1921; D. M. Lindsay, 
U.S. Biological Survey), in Nevada (Hoffman, 1881; Cooke, 1906) and in Idaho and Montana 
(Wyman; Thomas; U.S. Biological Survey). In California it has been found breeding only in 
Modoc County (W. L. Dawson, 1916), but it is rather common and breeds in south- 
eastern Oregon (Bendire, 1877) and it is practically certain that it nests in the interior 
of Washington (W. L. Dawson and Bowles, 1909). 
In Canada the breeding range lies chiefly east of the Rockies, though some nest in the interior of 
British Columbia (Kermode, 1904; A. Brooks, 1918). It does not seem to be very abundant as a 
breeder in Alberta (Horsbrugh, 1915; Soper, 1918) but it is a common breeder in Western 
Saskatchewan (J. and J. M. Macoun, 1909) especially in the Churchill River region Canada 
(Buchanan, 1920). Some time ago it was a common nesting bird in western Manitoba (Seton, 1886) 
about Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg (E. E. Thompson, 1891) but it is said to be very scarce 
now in the Shoal Lake district (Taverner, 1919). This is about the eastern limit of the breeding 
range in Canada, though single specimens have been recorded from Hudson Bay, the Nelson River 
and Fort Churchill (Preble, 1902). Buchanan (1920) reports it from a locality north of Fort du 
Brochet. 
The breeding grounds par excellence of this species seem to lie farther north, in the region about 
Lake Athabasca, Great Slave Lake, and in the MacKenzie and Yukon basins. Preble (1908) says 
it is abundant throughout the wooded portion of this district. His party met with it 
on the lower Athabasca and Peace Rivers, about Lake Athabasca, along the Great 
Slave River and about Great Slave Lake, and thence northward along the MacKenzie as far as Forts 
Good Hope and MacPherson. Mr. Francis Harper, who visited the region about the Athabasca 
Delta for me in 1920, found it seventh in abimdance among the ducks, and took several nests. 
Stefansson (1913) found it on the Hay River and Great Slave River, and MacFarlane (1908) says it 
is common from Fort Resolution north to the Anderson River. He took nests at Fort Anderson, and 
farther east on the Swan River. Stefansson was told that it is found rarely on the Horton River 
(Franklin Bay). Some of these far northern records are not of breeding birds, but may be accounted 
for by summer excursions northward of young birds or males that are through breeding. 
Farther westward the species has been taken on the Macmillan River (Osgood, 1909), on the Peel 
River (Preble, 1908) and on the Porcupine River (U.S. Biological Survey). It has not yet been seen 
on the Arctic coast of Alaska, but appears to be not uncommon in the Yukon Basin 
(Dali, 1869). Blackwelder (1919) found it the commonest duck on the Birch Creek 
Flats (upper Yukon). On the coast of Alaska it seems to breed as far north as Kotzebue Sound 
(Nelson, 1883). It is said to nest commonly cn the coasts of Norton Sound (Nelson, 1883) but seems 
to be rare about St. Michael’s (Nelson, 1887; Dali, 1869). There is no record of its occurrence on the 
eastern Aleutian Islands excepting one for Atka; it is reported as rare on Attu (Turner, 1886). A 
dead specimen was found on Bering Island on May 1, 1883 (Stejneger, 1885). The only record for the 
Alaska Peninsula is that by Gianini (1917) who saw a pair on June 2 near Stepovak Bay. In south- 
eastern Alaska the species is not common, and probably does not breed. It has been noted at Big 
MacKenzie 
