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.