154 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 
DUCKS FEEDING: WILD FOWL POND. 
soft brown and gray tones which fairly rival the more 
gaudy color-pattern of the wood duck. The species is yet 
found occasionally along the Atlantic Coast, but like all 
other edible birds, its numbers are rapidly diminishing. 
A large flock of these birds will be found on the Wild-Fow] 
Pond. 
The Gadwall, (Chaulelasmas strepera), is a handsome gray 
bird, well known to gunners along the Mississippi Valley, 
but rarely seen along the Atlantic coast. Its chief breeding 
grounds are in the great marshes of central Canada. 
The Baldpate, (\fareca americana), on of the finest of 
water-fowl, is now so scarce that it is difficult to obtain speci- 
mens for exhibition. These birds are poor divers, but gain a 
good livelihood by feeding on floating sea lettuce, disturbed 
from the bottom by the better equipped canvas-backs and 
redheads. 
The bill of the Shoveller, (Spatula clypeata), has become so 
specialized for mud-sifting that it has actually assumed the 
shape of a shovel, and is out of all proportion to the size of 
the bird’s body. The sides of the bill are equipped with 
bony plates, through which the mud is strained, the particles 
of food being caught and swallowed. 
The Canvas-Back (4 yihya vallisneria), and the Red-Head, 
(A. americana), two prime favorites with the sportsman and 
epicure, are exhibited on the Wild Fowl Pond. Of the latter, 
