﻿1 
  88 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Distinguishing 
  marks. 
  This 
  species 
  differs 
  from 
  all 
  our 
  other 
  river 
  

   ducks 
  in 
  having 
  a 
  pure 
  white 
  speculum. 
  The 
  female 
  is 
  often 
  confused 
  

   with 
  the 
  Pintail 
  and 
  Baldpate 
  ducks 
  by 
  ordinary 
  gunners, 
  these 
  species 
  

   being 
  known 
  as 
  Gray 
  ducks 
  in 
  western 
  New 
  York; 
  but 
  by 
  giving 
  slight 
  

   attention 
  to 
  the 
  figures 
  on 
  plates 
  12 
  and 
  13 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  easy 
  to 
  distinguish 
  the 
  

   difference. 
  

  

  The 
  Gadwall, 
  or 
  Gray 
  duck, 
  though 
  not 
  common 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  New 
  

   York 
  State, 
  is 
  frequently 
  taken 
  on 
  the 
  marshes 
  of 
  Oswego, 
  Cayuga, 
  Seneca, 
  

   Wayne 
  and 
  Monroe 
  counties, 
  but 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  is 
  considered 
  only 
  an 
  

   accidental 
  visitant. 
  Butcher 
  records 
  only 
  four 
  specimens 
  from 
  Long 
  

   Island. 
  Giraud 
  obtained 
  a 
  few 
  along 
  the 
  south 
  shore 
  of 
  Long 
  Island. 
  

   Meams 
  found 
  it 
  a 
  transient 
  visitant 
  along 
  the 
  Hudson, 
  Merriam 
  in 
  the 
  

   Adirondack 
  region, 
  and 
  Ralph 
  and 
  Bagg 
  on 
  Oneida 
  lake. 
  Mr 
  Savage 
  

   calls 
  it 
  an 
  accidental 
  visitant 
  near 
  Buffalo 
  and 
  Mr 
  Higgins 
  near 
  Cincinnatus. 
  

   On 
  the 
  Montezuma 
  marshes 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  of 
  these 
  ducks 
  are 
  seen 
  each 
  season, 
  

   where 
  the 
  drake 
  figured 
  by 
  Mr 
  Fuertes 
  in 
  plate 
  1 
  2 
  was 
  taken 
  on 
  November 
  

   20th, 
  1905, 
  by 
  Mr 
  Foster 
  Parker, 
  who 
  states 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  less 
  common 
  than 
  the 
  

   Shoveler. 
  He 
  once 
  saw 
  a 
  gunner 
  with 
  about 
  20 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  killed 
  in 
  

   "the 
  Ponds." 
  On 
  two 
  occasions 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  this 
  duck 
  on 
  Canandaigua 
  

   lake, 
  but 
  from 
  my 
  records 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  Shoveler 
  outnumbers 
  

   the 
  Gadwall 
  about 
  10 
  to 
  i. 
  New 
  York 
  records 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  show 
  that 
  

   it 
  occurs 
  from 
  March 
  30th 
  (Cincinnatus) 
  till 
  late 
  in 
  April 
  and 
  from 
  early 
  

   October 
  until 
  November 
  24th 
  (Gilgo, 
  L. 
  I.). 
  

  

  Audubon 
  records 
  on 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  Dr 
  Boardman 
  that 
  in 
  181 
  2 
  a 
  

   flock 
  of 
  30 
  tame 
  gadwalls 
  w^as 
  seen 
  in 
  Dutchess 
  county, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  which 
  had 
  

   been 
  reared 
  by 
  a 
  pair 
  captured 
  in 
  a 
  neighboring 
  mill 
  pond. 
  Wilson 
  obtained 
  

   the 
  original 
  of 
  his 
  plate 
  71 
  near 
  Seneca 
  Falls, 
  N. 
  Y. 
  DeKay 
  stated 
  that 
  

   this 
  species 
  breeds 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  

   find 
  any 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  nesting 
  nearer 
  than 
  St 
  Clair 
  Flats 
  and 
  Anticosti 
  

   Island. 
  Like 
  the 
  Mallard 
  the 
  Gadwall 
  is 
  holarctic 
  in 
  distribution, 
  in 
  America 
  

   breeding 
  from 
  Kansas 
  and 
  Colorado 
  north 
  to 
  Lesser 
  Slave 
  Lake 
  and 
  Ft 
  

   Churchill. 
  

  

  