208 GAME SHOAL-WATEK FOWL. 



Adult female : The female is considerably 

 smaller. The bill, feet, and iris are colored as in 

 the male. The head and upper part of the neck 

 all round are white or reddish-white, longitudi- 

 nally streaked with brownish-black, the top of the 

 head transversely barred ; the lower part of the 

 neck in front and behind, the fore part of the 

 back, and the scapulars, are blackish-brown ; the 

 feathers broadly margined with brownish-red and 

 barred with the same ; the bars on the back 

 narrow ; the hind part of the back dusky ; the 

 upper tail-coverts barred with white. The wings 

 are grayish-brown; the secondary coverts tipped 

 with white ; the secondary quills are brownish- 

 black,- the inner grayish-brown, all margined with 

 white. All the lower parts are white, excepting 

 the feathers of the sides and under the tail, which 

 are broadly barred with dusky and light reddish- 

 brown. 



Length to end of tail, 18 inches ; extent of 

 wings, 30 ; weight, 1 pound. 5 ounces. 



I have found widgeon most abundant on the 

 mossy, stagnant waters of Southern Missouri and 

 Tennessee, but never in such number^, however, 

 as to warrant particular notice. There they asso- 

 ciate indiscriminately with the gray duck or gad- 



