398 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



with other nocturnal fowl across the lake, will often 

 seek the meadows in broad daylight to sustain 

 itself upon the short grass. 



The Teal is the smallest and one of the most 

 beautiful of the British ducks, and like the Widgeon, 

 usually appears in England as a winter migrant 

 only. A few pairs, however, linger during the 

 summer in suitable localities and their nests are 

 occasionally found. The W^idgeon, on the other 

 hand, consistently return to their Scandinavian 

 breeding haunts in March and April, deserting 

 England altogether and only remaining in com- 

 paratively rare instances to rear their young on 

 the more northerlv Scottish lakes. 



The majority of the British ducks are more or 

 less irregular winter visitors only. They, with the 

 ■Mergansers, form an interesting group consisting 

 of about thirty species. Of these, eleven are ex- 

 tremely rare. The Ruddy Sheld-duck, American 

 Widgeon, Red-crested Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, 

 BufYel-headed Duck, King Eider, Steller's Eider, 

 Velvet Scoter, Surf Scoter and the Hooded Mer- 

 ganser are all the merest stragglers, and are in- 

 cluded in the list by reason of a few casual 

 occurrences. 



Of those remaining the Shoveller may at once 

 be distinguished by his broad spoon-shaped bill. 

 It is mainly a winter visitor, but a few pairs remain 

 to breed in Great Britain. 



The Gargany, a small duck resembling the Teal, 

 known, indeed, as the Summer Teal, differs from 

 most of its kin inasmuch as it is a summer visitor 



