494 REPORT OF THE 



rest of the head, the sides of the neck, the breast and lower throat are pale 

 plumbeous; the abdomen is white; the crissum white or light buffy ; the flanks 

 white with clear-cut bars of slate color. In the immature plumage the lores 

 and superciliary stripe are brownish, the chin and throat whitish, while the remain- 

 ing parts of the neck and breast are pale brownish. The bill is greenish yellow 

 in life, the eye is brown, the feet greenish. 



Tl)e :^al<lpate. 



Among the many species of ducks that in the course of their semi-annual migra- 

 tion visit the Middle Atlantic States, few are better known than the American Wid- 

 geon, or, as it is commonly called, the Baldpate. The latter name comes evidently 

 from its white crown, which at a little distance suggests the appearance indicated in 

 the name, though this is just as misleading as the term "Bald" Eagle. While in 

 most respects similar to the common Widgeon of the Old World, the Baldpate is a 

 different bird. It sometimes straggles to Europe, but its true home is the great 

 continent of North America, where it is found in abundance almost everywhere from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific, and far to the northward beyond the Arctic Circle ; pass- 

 ing southward in winter to Central America and through the West Indies to the 

 island of Trinidad. 



The season of its spring migration is March and April ; that of the fall, Septem- 

 ber and October; at which times it sojourns by the way on the ponds, lakes, rivers 

 and bays, wherever shelter and food are afforded. Beautiful in shape and color, as 

 graceful in movement, the Baldpate is ever an attractive object. On the wing it is 

 swift and strong, and from the beat of its pinions comes that curious whirring 

 sound so characteristic of many ducks ; and its low, whistling note is decidedly 

 musical. It moves commonly in flocks, which, being comparatively compacted, offer 

 an easy mark to the sportsman. 



In company with the pintail, the teals, the canvasback and at times other species, 

 the Baldpate feeds on roots and seeds of grasses, insects, small fishes and the various 

 other similar articles of duck diet that the marsh affords ; adding to this whatever 

 else it may find to its taste in the damp or half-flooded fields which at times it visits. 

 On the water it seeks its food commonly with head, neck and breast below the 

 surface, but rarely if ever dives, though it is said sometimes to rob the canvasback 

 of the coveted roots of the wild celery, the hard-earned fruits of the latter's toil. 



The vast interior of the American continent, from the northern United States 

 northward, is the regular breeding ground of the Baldpate, though occasionally at 



