THE GREAT-HEADED WIDGEON. 21? 



Name of the female Food Remarks. 



feathers are of a beautiful party-coloured brown 

 and white. The upper part of the tail is ash-co- 

 loured; the under part behind the vent, black. 

 The legs ana feet are of a dark lead colour, and 

 the claws black. 



Widgeons are common in Cambridgeshire, 

 the Isle of Ely, &c. where the male is called the 

 widgeoii, and the female, the whewer. They 

 feed upon wild periwinkles, grass, weeds, Sec. 

 which grow at the bottom of rivers and lakes. 

 Their flesh has a very delicious taste, not inferior 

 to teal, or wild ducks. 



THE GREAT-HEADED WIDGEON. 



THIS is larger than the common widgeon, 

 and the make of its body is considerably thicker 

 and shorter, weighing often near two pounds 

 when well fed ; the bill is considerably larger and 

 broader than that of the widgeon ; the head and 

 the greatest part of the neck, are of a fine ful- 

 vous red; the feathers from the upper part of 

 the head, come down in the form of an acute 

 angle, or peak, to the middle of the base of the 

 upper mandible, which is of a lead colour, tipped 

 with black, the under mandible being entirely 

 black ; the circles, or irides of the eyes, are of a 

 fine yellow. The small covert feathers of the 

 wings, and those on the middle part of the back, 

 are variegated with brown and cioerous, elegant 



VOL. IV. NO. 27* 2 E 



