THE WIDGEON 299 
coverts, the last becoming pure white. The 
speculum is bright metallic green set in a frame 
of black. Bill narrow, pale slatey blue, with a 
dusky tip and black nail; feet and legs of the 
same dull blue color but somewhat darker than 
bill, the webs and claws blackish. Iris brown. 
The female is not so brilliantly dressed, for, 
as usual among the feathered tribes, the male 
bird wears the good clothes and ‘‘puts on the 
style’? for the family. Still, the female Wid- 
geon is rather better dressed than the average 
of her lady acquaintances. She lacks the white 
area on the crown, the dusky streaks being car- 
ried all over her head, and the reddish brown of 
her neck and breast is broken up with heavier 
black bars. The back is mottled with reddish 
and dark brown, the red mainly on the tips and 
edges of the feathers. The wing is much as in 
the male though the coverts are darker and 
grayer in tone. The speculum as in the male 
bird. At different seasons and ages this bird 
varies in its plumage but will probably be known 
at once in any stage of its development by its 
wing characters or the slightly lengthened tail 
feathers. 
