520 
LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS — ANSERES. 
whole of their nourishment during the night, the Widgeon procures its food — con- 
sisting of grass — in the daytime ; and while the Mallard and the Teal are sporting 
on the water or reposing on the banks, the Widgeon is devouring with avidity the 
same kind of short grass on which the Geese are found to feed. Though many flocks 
of Widgeons are known to accompany the other Waterfowl in their nocturnal wander- 
ings, the larger number of them pass the whole night where they have spent the day. 
This is shown by their singular whistling noise, which is heard at all hours. 
In March and April the Widgeons again move northward for the breeding-season, 
a small number remaining in the northern part of Scotland to breed about the lakes 
of Sutherlandshire. Mr. Selby, in his paper on the birds of that region, writes that, 
he was much pleased to observe several pairs of this species upon the smaller lochs 
near Lairg. They probably had their nests among the reeds and other herbage which 
grew in their vicinity. Mr. Selby was not so fortunate as to find any of them, but 
afterward, upon one of the islands of Lake Laogliall, he shot a female upon a nest of 
seven eggs. This was placed in the midst of a large collection of rushes, and was 
made of decayed rushes and reeds, with a lining of warm down from the bird’s body. 
The eggs are described as being smaller than those of the Mallard, and of a rich 
creamy white color. They measure 2.13 inches in length and 1.50 in breadth. 
The note of the Widgeon is a shrill whistle, and on this account it is known in 
some parts of England as the Whew Duck, and in France as the Canard Siffleur. 
According to the observations of Mr. Richard Dunn, the Widgeon is the most abun- 
dant of all the Duck tribe in Lapland, frequenting the grassy swamps, lakes, and 
rivers, appearing in pairs with the first breaking-up of the ice. As soon as the female 
begins to lay, the male loses his beautiful plumage, and secretes himself in the 
swamps and inaccessible morasses. The female lays from five to eight eggs. The 
young keep among the rushes and reeds in the lakes, the old birds betaking them- 
selves to the shallows on the coast. The Widgeon leaves for the south early in 
September, appearing in great flocks on the coast of Norway and Sweden; it entirely 
leaves Sweden in the winter. 
Mareca americana. 
THE AMERICAN WIDGEON ; BALD-PATE. 
Anas americana, Gmel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 526. — Wils. Am. Orn. VIII. 1814, 86, pi. 69, f. 1. — Aud. 
Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 337, pi. 345 ; Synop. 1839, 279 ; B. Am. VI. 1843, 259, pi. 389. 
Mareca americana, Stephens, Shaw’s Gen. Zool. XII. ii. 1824, 135. — Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 1831, 
445. — Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 783 ; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 585. — Coues, Key, 1872, 286 ; 
Check List, 1873, no. 493 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 713 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 564. — Ridgw. Nom. N. 
Am. B. 1882, no. 607. 
Mareca penelope, h., Blasihs, B. Eur. 1862, 21. 
Hab. North America iu general, north to Arctic Ocean, south to Guatemala and Cuba. Acci- 
dental in Europe. Breeds nearly throughout its range. 
Sp. Char. Adult male in winter : Forehead and middle of crown (longitudinally) white, 
generally immaculate ; ground-color of head and neck white, sometimes more or less soiled with 
grayish or brown, and thickly speckled with black ; a broad space of metallic blackish green on 
the side of the occiput, running forward to the eye, and sometimes down the nape, where the 
two spaces are confluent. Jugulum plain pinkish vinaceous ; sides and flanks the same, delicately 
undulated with black ; lower tail-coverts velvety black ; rest of lower parts pure white. Back 
and scapulars grayish white, more or less tinged with the color of the sides, and similarly undu- 
lated with black. Wing-coverts immaculate pure white, the anterior portion of the lesser-covert 
region cinereous, and the last row tipped with velvety black ; speculum soft metallic green ante- 
