The Wigeon 
53 
nothing particular to note as to the manner in which any of the young females 
of the surface-feeders gain the full plumage of the adult. As a general rule 
there are no colour contrasts to be overcome, so everything is gradually changed 
by the winter moult. The whole new dress is obtained sometimes as late as 
the following April or May, and all feathers have then been renewed except 
those of the wing, which are retained till the usual summer or autumn shed- 
ding. 
Adult female Wigeon present three very well marked types — the grey form, 
the red-brown form, and a curiously pale red-brown form, with many transverse 
bars across the neck and scapulars. This latter is the only uncommon form, 
and by far the most beautiful. These specimens also usually have all the 
shoulder feathers of the wings well edged with white. 
The grey and the red-brown forms are generally distributed in this 
country throughout the winter, although the latter is by far the commoner of 
the two. Both types curiously alter little during the breeding season, each 
retaining their general individual tone of colour, and, except that they both 
show a slight tendency towards a darker colour, change on the inside part of 
several of the neck and scapular feathers which turn very dark, they really 
alter less at this season than any of the surface-feeding ducks. As a rare 
exception to this, I have seen a single specimen of a female Wigeon shot 
from the nest in Iceland, in 1899, which showed a remarkably dark type. 
The breast was heavily marked with brown feathers (see figure facing 
page 42). 
According to my experience, there is no female of any of the ducks which 
is so prone to assume the plumage of the male as the Wigeon. I have seen 
several in the almost complete garb of the adult male plumage, and have 
myself shot three in a half-assumed state. That this curious assumption of 
the male plumage is by no means uncommon I have little doubt; but the fact 
of such birds so very closely resembling the young male, and being indistin- 
guishable to anyone except the expert in such matters, could easily account for 
the fact not having been previously noted. We frequently hear of the female 
