THE WIDGEON 295 
wall is a vegetable feeder, but it can put up with 
a fish diet if the other sort of provender is hard 
to come by. 
THE WIDGEON. 
(Mareca americana.) 
While not so numerous in our corner of the 
continent as is the black duck, the Widgeon is 
fairly abundant; perhaps more so than is gen- 
erally supposed. Shy, wary and difficult of ap- 
proach it is not always recognized at the safe 
distance at which it usually takes flight. It is 
by no means an unusual bird in our ponds and 
lakes during the spring and fall flights, and 
more common in the fresh waters than on the 
coast. But it is in the sloughs and lakes of the 
western States and the interior of Canada west- 
ward and northwestward from Hudson Bay, 
where they breed in great numbers, or in the 
winter months among the rice swamps of the 
south, that the Widgeon is in his glory. 
With us in New England most of them are 
killed during the fall flights, for very little 
spring shooting is done in this section. The 
birds themselves move along more leisurely and 
make longer stops on their fall travels than 
