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BALDPATE. 



WIDGEON. 



Anas Americana. 



Char. Mantle brownish gray, varied with fine waved lines of black; 

 head and neck grayish white, with dark spots, — the crown with few or no 

 spots ; a green patch on the sides of the head behind the eyes ; wing- 

 patch green, bordered with black ; tail grayish brown ; breast mottled 

 reddish brown; belly white; bill and legs grayish blue. Length tg 

 inches. The female has a dark-brown back ; head and neck yellowish 

 white, spotted with black. 



Nest. Under a bush on upland, or on a dry knoll in a marsh ; made of 

 weed-stems, grass, and leaves, — sometimes a mere depression amid dead 

 leaves, — lined with down. 



Eggs, 7-12; ivory white; average size 2.20 X 1.50. 



This species, so nearly allied to the European Widgeon, has 

 not been found in the old continent ; yet it retires north to 

 breed, inhabiting in summer the woody districts of the remote 

 fur countries near the Saskatchewan and the coasts of Hudson 

 Bay as far as the 68th degree of northern latitude. In autumn 

 and winter these birds are common in nearly all parts of the 

 Union, many wintering in North and South Carolina in the 



