16 BULLETIN 862, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Muscidae; and 1 contained fly remains which were not identified. 
The larvae of midges are found in immense numbers in stagnant 
water in many localities, and are often an important food item for 
water birds. 
The remaining insects, amounting to only 0.04 per cent, consisted 
of a few caddisfly larvae (Phryganoidea), bugs, chiefly water boat- 
men (Corixidae), a dragonfly nymph, remains of small crickets 
(Nemobius sp.), a small aquatic caterpillar, a few small ants, and 
unidentified eggs, larvae, and adults of other forms. 
MISCELLANEOUS ANIMAL FOOD, 0.1 PER CENT. 
Crustaceans furnished less than 1 per cent of the food of the bald- 
pate. They consisted of sand fleas (Amphipoda), bivalved crusta- 
ceans (Ostracoda), and a few unidentified forms. One stomach from 
St. Paul Island, Alaska, was half full of the remains of sand fleas, and 
contained nothing else. These, together with bits of hydroids, a few 
spiders and water mites, and the teeth and scales of small fish, made 
up the remainder of the animal food. 
EUROPEAN WIDGEON. 
(Mi areca penelope. ) 
The European, or red-headed, widgeon is an Old World species 
but has been noted occasionally at a number of points on the Atlantic 
eoast of North America, and in the North Central and Lake States. 
There are also several scattered records of its occurrence on the 
Pacific coast. In appearance the male European widgeon is similar 
to the baldpate except that the crown is creamy buff instead of 
white and the remainder of the head and upper part of the neck 
are reddish brown, with a black area on the chin and throat. 
FOOD HABITS. 
Not a great deal is known of its food habits in the United States. 
Sanford,’ discussing it, says that, ‘‘unlike the American baldpate,” 
it is frequently seen on salt water, feeding almost entirely on 
the short grass growing on the bottom. However, the baldpate also 
is known to feed commonly in salt water. Only five stomachs of 
the European widgeon were available for examination. Two of 
these were from Back Bay, southeastern Virginia; one contained 
fohage of widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) and eelgrass (Zostera 
marina); the other, only widgeon grass. The third was from the 
flats of the Susquehanna River near its mouth in northeastern Mary- 
land and contained rootstocks of pondweeds (Potamogeton sp.), bits 
of stems and a few seeds of dodder (Cuscuta sp.), and a few seeds 
of bur-reed (Sparganium sp.). The fourth stomach, from the vicin- 
7 Sanford, L. C., L. B. Bishop, and T. 8S. Van Dyke, The Waterfowl] Family, p. 91, 1903. 
