Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

GADWALL

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 384 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

GADWALL , a word of obscure origin,' the See also:

common See also:English name of the See also:duck, called by See also:Linnaeus Anas sire pera, but considered by many See also:modern ornithologists to require removal from the genus Anas to that of Chaulelasmus or Ctenorhynchus, of either of which it is almost the See also:sole See also:species. Its See also:geographical See also:distribution is almost identical with that of the common See also:wild duck or mallard (see DUCK), since it is found over the greater See also:part of the See also:northern hemisphere; but, See also:save in See also:India, where it is one of the most abundant species of duck during the See also:cold See also:weather, it is hardly anywhere so numerous, and both in the eastern parts of the See also:United States and in the See also:British Islands it is rather rare than otherwise. Its habits also, so far as they have been observed, greatly resemble those of the wild duck; but its See also:appearance on the See also:water is very different, its small See also:head, See also:flat back, elongated See also:form and elevated stern rendering it recognizable by the See also:fowler even at such a distance as hinders him from seeing its very distinct plumage. In coloration the two sexes appear almost equally sombre; but on closer inspection the See also:drake exhibits a pencilled See also:grey coloration and upper wing-coverts of a deep See also:chestnut, which are almost wanting in his soberly clad partner. She closely resembles the See also:female of the mallard in See also:colour, but has, like her own male, some of the secondary quills of a pure See also:white, presenting a patch of that colour which forms one of the most readily perceived distinctive characters of the species. The gadwall is a See also:bird of some See also:interest in See also:England, since it is one of the few that have been induced, by the See also:protection afforded them in certain localities, to resume the indigenous position they once filled, but had, through the draining and reclaiming of marshy lands, See also:long since abandoned. In regard to the See also:present species, this fact was due to the efforts of See also:Andrew Fountaine, on whose See also:property, in See also:West See also:Norfolk and its immediate neighbourhood, the gadwall, from 1850, annually bred in increasing See also:numbers. It has been always esteemed one of the best of wild See also:fowl for the table. (A.

End of Article: GADWALL

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
GADSDEN, JAMES (1788-1858) 		[next]
GAEKWAR, or GUICOWAR

Site © 2006 - Net Industries