AMERICAN WIDGEON. 
263 
feathers are light brownish-grey. The throat is brownish-black ; the lower 
part of the neck in front, and the fore part of the breast, light brownish-red; 
the breast, belly, and sides of the rump, white ; the sides of the body finely 
undulated with white and dusky ; the rump beneath and the lower tail- 
coverts black. 
Length to end of tail 2 O 3 inches, to end of claws 21 ; extent of wings 
34£ ; bill to frontal processes 1^, along the edge of lower mandible l-fV ; 
wing from flexure 11 ; tail 4 £ ; tarsus 1 ^ ; hind toe ~o , its claw f middle 
toe 1 t 8 2 ; its claw Weight 1 lb. 14 oz. 
Adult Female. 
The female is considerably smaller. The bill, feet, and iris are coloured 
as in the male. The head and upper part of the neck all round, are white 
or reddish-white, longitudinally streaked with brownish-black, the top of 
the head transversely barred ; the lower part of the neck in front and behind, 
the fore part of the back, and the scapulars, are blackish-brown, the feathers 
broadly margined with brownish-red, and barred with the same, the bars on 
the back narrow ; the hind part of the back dusky ; the upper tail-coverts 
barred with white. The wings are greyish-brown ; the secondary coverts 
tipped with white; the secondary quills are brownish-black, the inner grey- 
ish-brown, all margined with white. The tail-feathers are greyish-brown, 
margined with white. All the lower parts are white, excepting the feathers 
of the sides, and under the tail, which are broadly barred with dusky and 
light reddish-brown. 
Length to end of tail 18 inches, to end of claws 19i ; extent of wings 
30 ; bill along the ridge l r *v ; wing from flexure 9j*g ; tail 3 T 9 2 ; tarsus l-, 6 ^- ; 
middle toe 1 T 9 2, its claw Weight 1 lb. 5 oz. 
A very great diversity of colouring exists in this species, which, how- 
ever, is not yet properly understood. Although males are often found as 
described above, and as represented in the plate, others have a very different 
appearance. Thus, an individual shot at the mouth of the Mississippi, in 
the beginning of. April, 1837, has the head and neck brownish-orange, the 
feathers all minutely tipped with dark green, the lower fore neck lilac ; all 
the upper parts finely undulated with white^and dusky, as are the sides ; the 
wing-coverts light brownish-grey ; the other parts as described above, but 
the upper tail-coverts black at the end. In some individuals the top of the 
head is reddish-white, in others light red, in others pure white ; in some, 
most of the smaller wing-coverts are white, in others grey or brownish-grey ; 
in some the throat is whitish, in others black. These differences, no doubt, 
depend upon age and season. 
The American Widgeon has been considered distinct from the European ; 
not on account of any difference in size or form, or texture of plumage, but 
