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Baldpate — Part 2
Images coming soon.
Instead of nesting close beside the water in the sedges, after the approved duck method, the widgeons commonly go to high, dry ground to lay from seven to twelve buff-white eggs in a mere depression among the leaves that the mother lines with down from her breast. Nests are frequently found half a mile or more from water. It is supposed, but not as yet proved, that the mother carries in her bill each tiny duckling to the water, where it is at home long before it feels so on land or in the air. At various stages of the bird's development the plumage undergoes many changes; but aside from those of age and sex, the baldpates show unusual variability. However, Dr. Coues consoles the novice with the assurance that "the bird cannot be mistaken under any conditions; the extensive white of the under parts and wings is recognizable at gunshot range."
The European Widgeon (Anas penelope) has found its way across the Atlantic and our continent, for it nests in the Aleutian Islands as well as in the northern parts of our eastern coast. It is occasionally met with in the eastern United States; and, although it has a bald pate also, its blackish throat and the reddish brown on the rest of the head and neck easily distinguish it from its American prototype.