THE WIDGEON, (Mareca Penelope,)
Weighs about twenty-two ounces, and feeds upon grass and roots growing at the bottom of lakes, rivers, and ponds. The plumage of this bird is much variegated, and its flesh esteemed a great delicacy, though not so highly praised as that of the teal. The bill of the Widgeon is black; the head and upper part of the neck of a bright bay; the back and sides under the wing waved with black and white; the breast purple; the lower part of the body white, and the legs are dusky. The young of both sexes are grey, and continue in this plain garb till the month of February; after which a change takes place, and the plumage of the male begins to assume its rich colourings, in which, it is said, he continues till the end of July; and then again the feathers become dark and grey, so that he is hardly to be distinguished from the female.
Widgeons commonly fly in small flocks during the night, and may be known from other birds by their whistling note, while they are on the wing. They quit the desert morasses of the north on the approach of winter, and as they advance towards the ends of their destined southern journey, they spread themselves along the shores, and over the marshes and lakes, in various parts of the continent, as well as those of the British isles; and it is said that some of the flocks advance as far south as Egypt.
The Widgeon is easily domesticated in places where there is plenty of water, and is much admired for its beauty, sprightly look, and busy, frolicsome manners; yet it is generally asserted that they will not breed in confinement, or at least that the female will not make a nest and perform the act of incubation; but that she will lay eggs, which are generally dropped into the water.