THE WIDGEON 297 
superior ability for his own benefit, snatching 
the plunder the instant his victim’s head ap- 
pears above the water. Of course there is much 
wrangling between the two upon the feeding 
grounds, for no self-respecting duck can tamely 
endure such high-handed treatment. 
The Widgeon ranks close to the canvasback 
in table qualities. Perhaps this, with some oth- 
ers of the ‘‘river ducks,’’ would rank equally 
high but for the judicious advertising, of the 
canvasback’s good qualities by shrewd dealers. 
In fact, many redheads are palmed off upon 
the unsuspecting epicure as the ‘‘aristocratic 
eanvasback.’’ 
The Widgeon likes to doze in the sun on the 
sandbars and in the quiet corners of the marsh 
during the day, going to the feeding grounds 
at night, usually traveling in small flocks with 
rapid and well sustained flight, often moving 
in ‘‘company front,’’ the central birds leading 
slightly. 
Very few are killed in the open water, most 
meeting their fate in the early hours of the 
morning at the blinds in the marshes, lured 
on to their undoing by the seductive quack of 
