. A popular handbook of the birds of the United States and Canada . ond gunshot, and then only take to wing whenmuch disturbed. In Carolina and the West Indies they fre-quent the rice-fields in flocks, and in Martinico are said todo considerable damage to the crops. When thus feeding incompany they have a sort of sentinel on the watch. At timesthey keep in covert until twilight, and are then traced by theirlow, guttural, and peculiar whistle, or whew, whew, as well asother calls ; and their whistle is frequently imitated with successto entice them within gunshot. They feed much in the win-ter
. A popular handbook of the birds of the United States and Canada . ond gunshot, and then only take to wing whenmuch disturbed. In Carolina and the West Indies they fre-quent the rice-fields in flocks, and in Martinico are said todo considerable damage to the crops. When thus feeding incompany they have a sort of sentinel on the watch. At timesthey keep in covert until twilight, and are then traced by theirlow, guttural, and peculiar whistle, or whew, whew, as well asother calls ; and their whistle is frequently imitated with successto entice them within gunshot. They feed much in the win-ter upon aquatic vegetables, cropping the pond-weed as well asother kinds of freshwater plants and seeds, and sometimesdive and collect the roots and leaves of the sea-wrack. Although generally distributed throughout North America, theBaldpate rarely appears on the Atlantic coast excepting in winter,when it is found on the shores of the Southern States. It is a tolerably common summer resident of Manitoba, writes ErnestThompson, and the bird is well known in WIDGEON. Anas penelope. Char. Adult male : mantle white, marked with fine lines of darkgray; shoulders white, followed by bar of black; wing-patch green;longer wing-feathers and tail dark brown ; head and neck chestnut, shad-ing to buff on the forehead and to black on the throat; breast gray, tingedwith rufous and shading to white below, which extends across the belly;sides marked with fine lines of dark gray; under tail-coverts black; billslate blue, tipped with black ; legs and feet dusky lead color. Soon afterthe mating season the male assumes plumage similar to the female-Female: upper parts grayish brown,— the feathers with paler margins ;under parts white, the breast buffish brown; under tail-coverts barredwith brown; wing-patch grayish brown. Length i8 inches. Nest. Concealed amid rank herbage or under a bush, on the margin ofa lake ; a deep bowl made of sedges and lined with grass and down. Eggs. 7-12 (usual
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirdsnorthamerica
