Plate CCCXLV. Male and Female.
Tail short, pointed, of sixteen feathers. Male with the bill and feet
light greyish-blue; upper part of head white, more or less mottled
with dusky on the sides; loral space and cheeks reddish-white, dotted
with greenish-black; a broad band from the eye to behind the occiput
deep green; lower part of hind neck, scapulars, and fore part of back,
minutely transversely undulated with brownish-black and light
brownish-red; the hind part similarly undulated with blackish-brown
and greyish-white; smaller wing-coverts brownish-grey; primary quills
and coverts dark greyish-brown; secondary coverts white, tipped with
black; speculum duck-green, anteriorly bounded by the black tips of
the secondary coverts, black behind, internally black with white
streaks, the inner elongated secondaries having their outer webs
black, margined with white, their inner webs brownish-grey;
tail-feathers light brownish-grey; throat brownish-black, lower part
of neck in front, and fore part of breast light brownish-red; breast,
belly, and sides of rump, white; sides of body finely undulated with
white and dusky; rump beneath and lower tail-coverts black. Female
similar, with less white on the head, the back duller and less
undulated; the wings greyish-brown, the secondary coverts tipped with
white, secondary quills brownish-black, inner greyish-brown, all
margined with white; tail-feathers greyish-brown, edged with white,
lower parts white, except the feathers of the sides and under the
tail, which are broadly barred with dusky and light reddish-brown.
Perhaps not distinct from Anas Penelope.
_Male_, 20-1/2, 34-1/2. _Female_, 18, 30.
Breeds in Texas, and in the Northern Districts. Abundant in the south
and west in winter. Columbia River. Middle Atlantic districts in
autumn and spring.
American Widgeon, Anas americana, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. viii. p.
86.
Anas americana, Bonap. Syn. p. 384.
Mareca americana, Steph. American Widgeon, Swains. & Rich. F.
Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 445.
American Widgeon, Anas americana, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 389.
American Widgeon, Anas americana, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p.
337.