Fustian, s. A kind of cloth made of linen and cotton.
Fustic, s. A sort of dye-wood brought from the West Indies.
Gadfly, s. A fly that stings cattle.
Gadwall, or Gray, (Anas strepera, Linn.; Le Chipeau, Buff.), s. a bird.
GADWALL.
The gadwall is less than the mallard, measuring about nineteen inches in length, and twenty-three in breadth.
Birds of this species breed in the desert marshes of the north, and remain there throughout the spring and summer. On the approach of winter they leave the European and Siberian parts of Russia, Sweden, &c., and, aided by the first strong north-east wind, commonly make their appearance about the month of November, on the French, British, and other more southern shores, where they remain till the end of February, and then return to their northern haunts. They are very shy and wary birds, feeding only in the night, and lurking concealed among the rushes in the watery waste during the day, in which they are seldom seen on the wing.
These birds show themselves expert in diving as well as in swimming, and often disappoint the sportsman in his aim; for the instant they see the flash of the pan, they disappear, and dive to a distant secure retreat.—Bewick.