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THE AMERICAN WIDGEON. 
The American Widgeon {M, Americana). — The Wid- 
geons, placed in a genus by themselves tinder the name 
Mareca^ are in all respects very like the Teals, with the 
exception of having the bill shorter, proportionably broad, 
and rather narrowed towards the end. In this respect 
they differ from all the true Ducks. Of the last of the 
above species we need say but little, as it is an extremely 
rare bird with us, and so closely resembles the more com- 
mon species, that Macgillivray, after examining several 
specimens of the American Widgeon, declares himself un- 
able to find any characteristic difference which could be 
depended upon. We will therefore pass over to the 
European species, which is met with in greater or less 
abundance over the whole of England and Wales, Scotland 
and Ireland, during the winter. The length of this bird is 
generally a little under twenty inches ; it is very hand- 
some, having the upper part of the head brownish white, 
the cheeks and upper neck brownish red, dotted with 
black ; the rest of the neck and breast are of a lighter 
tinge ; the upper part of the body and sides below the 
wings are dark grey, finely waved, and marked with white ; 
on the wing is a large white patch, separated by a black 
band from the bright-green speculum ; the short broad 
tail is black, the abdomen white. 
