Length to end of tail in a male 9 inches; extent of wings 16 1/2; wing from flexure 5 1/4; tail 2 4/12; bill along the ridge 1 6/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1 7/12; bare part of tibia 1; tarsus 1 7/12; hind toe and claw 4 1/2/12; middle toe 9 1/12/12, its claw 2 1/2/12.
The roof of the mouth is flat, with three rows of papillæ. The tongue is 1 inch 5 twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at the base, very slender, concave above, tapering to a point. The œsophagus is 4 inches long, very narrow, its diameter 2 twelfths. The proventriculus is oblong, 7 twelfths in length, 3 1/2 twelfths in diameter. The stomach is a strong gizzard of a roundish form, compressed, 8 twelfths long, 7 1/12 twelfths broad; its lateral muscles large, its epithelium very dense, thick, longitudinally rugous, and of a reddish-brown colour. The intestine is 12 1/2 inches long, its anterior part 2 3/4 twelfths in diameter, the hind part 1 1/2 twelfth. The rectum is 1 1/2 inch long; the cœca 11 twelfths long, 1 twelfth in diameter, obtuse.
The trachea is 3 inches long, slender, its diameter at the upper part 1 3/4 twelfths, gradually diminishing to the lower part, where it is 1 twelfth. The rings, about 110 in number, are slender and unossified, the two last divided. The bronchi have about 15 half rings. The contractor muscles are thin, the sterno-tracheal slender; and there is a pair of inferior laryngeal muscles going to the first bronchial rings.
In another individual, the intestine was 13 1/4 inches long, the rectum 1 1/2 inch, the cœca 1 inch.
The contents of the gizzard in both were fragments of shells, small black seeds, and much sand and gravel.
AMERICAN WIDGEON.
Anas Americana, Gmel.
PLATE CCCXLV. Male and Female.
This lively and very handsome Duck is abundant during winter at New Orleans, where it is much esteemed on account of the juiciness of its flesh, and is best known by the name of Zinzin. In the Western Country, and in most parts of the Eastern and Middle States, it is called the Bald Pate. Early in September it enters the United States by their northern extremities, as well as from the Texas; and in both these regions it is now well known to breed in nearly equal numbers. Those which retreat south-westward remain along the coast and in the interior of the Floridas, as well as all that portion of the Gulf of Mexico extending to the mouths of the Mississippi, where they remain until the latter part of April, sometimes even until the middle of May, as they have but a comparatively short journey to perform in order to arrive in Mexico in time to breed. On the coast of the Atlantic they keep in the marshes in company with various species of the same family, being in a manner indifferent as to their associates. During early spring, in Louisiana, they are often seen alighted on extensive plains that have very little water on them.
While advancing along the shores of the Bay of Mexico, in April 1837, I and my party observed this species in considerable numbers; and during the whole of our stay in the Texas, we daily saw and very frequently procured Widgeons. There they were found in ponds of brackish water, as well as in the fresh-water streams. Before we left that country they were all paired, and I was informed by the Honourable M. Fisher, Secretary to the Texian Navy, that a good number of them breed in the maritime districts, along with several other Ducks, and that he annually received many of the young birds. Their manners at this time fully proved the correctness of the statements of all those who spoke to me on this subject. Indeed my opinion is that some of these birds also propagate in certain portions of the most southern districts of the Floridas, and in the Island of Cuba, as I have seen Widgeons in the peninsula in single pairs, in the beginning of May.
Their retrograde movements in spring, like those of other species, depend much upon the temperature or the advance of the season; and those which proceed northward set out on their journey much earlier than those which move in the opposite direction, the former departing from the middle of March to the 20th of April. Their first appearance on the waters of the Ohio takes place late in September or early in October, when they at once throw themselves into the ponds of the interior, and there remain until the waters are closed by ice, scarcely any betaking themselves to the rivers, unless to repose on the sand-bars. They are there, however, less abundant than nearer the sea-coast, and usually associate with Pintails and Teals, but rarely with Mallards or Dusky Ducks. Whilst in those retired ponds of the forest, from one to another of which they roam in quest of food, they are less noisy than most other species, even than the Pintails, and in this respect resemble the Blue-winged Teals, whose notes are feeble and delicate. Those of the Widgeon are a soft whistle somewhat similar to the word Sweet, enunciated as if produced by a flute or a hautboy, and in my judgment not at all like the hew hew spoken off by Wilson. They are less shy in those retired places than most species, or are to appearance less aware of the danger of allowing the sportsman to approach them.