WIDGEON, or WIGEON, a of the genus Widgeons hate a short bill, rounded at the tip, with a strong, broad nail, and the upper lamellae prominent; wings long and pointed; tail, moderate and wedge shaped There are about 10 species in various parts of the world. They arc found on the seashore and on the margins of lakes and rivers, feeding chiefly on vegetable substances, and performing periodical migrations at night in vast flocks. The American widgeon or bald pate (3f americana) is about 18 inches long; the bill is blue, black at the base and tip; tipper parts finely waved transversely with dark lines; lower parts mostly white; top of head nearly white, with a broad green patch around and behind the eyes; the rest of the head and neck grayish, spotted and banded with black; the wing-covers are white, the greater part tipped with black; the speculum is green, encircled by black. The baldpate is found throughout North America. breeding chiefly north of the United States and wintering in Central America. It is arm active bird, with a swift and well sustained flight, in ranks of various and irregular forms, and it associates during the winter with teals and other ducks. The flesh is highly esteemed, especially when they have fed in the rice fields of the South, or along with the canvas-back on the water-celery of the Chesapeake. They do
not dive, but feed with the head and neck im mersed. swimming very near together. Their food consists of aquatic seeds, roots, insects, worms, small fry, leeches, nuts and grain, espe cially rice in the rainy season; being very fond of the tender aquatic plants on which the can vas-back feeds, and no diver itself, it watches the latter and snatches the morsels as it emerges and before it has had time to open its eyes. They are among the most difficult ducks to shoot, owing to their shyness and swift, irregu lar flight. The nest is built on the ground, often far from water and usually of leaves lined with down. The eggs number eight or 10, are pure ivory white and about two inches long by nearly one and one-half in diameter. The European widgeon (M. penelope) is rather smaller, and not uncommon all along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, as well as on the Pacific. It differs chiefly in having the head and neck red dish brown or cinnamon, the top of the head cream-colored. Consult Grinnell, 'American Duck Shooting' (Ncw York 1902).