306 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS 



The whole, or, at least, the vast majority, of our sea- 

 coast mallards are foreigners. A few broods of native 

 mallards from the sand-links or immediate vicinity of the 

 coast-line may join the foreign legions on their arrival 

 here, but that is all. The inland, native-bred mallards 

 remain all the year round in the neighbourhood of the 

 moors and marshes where they were bred : never, of their 

 own choice, coming down to the coast or tidal estuaries. 

 In very severe weather, when their regular haunts are frozen 

 or snowed up, they are obliged to have recourse to the open 

 waters of the coast, but on the break-up of the frost they 

 return within a few hours to their inland homes. 



The return migration northwards takes place in March. 

 As early as the end of February, in mild seasons, we have 

 evidence of the commencement of the migratory movement, 

 and its concluding stages are still perceptible in April. 

 But March is the month when the withdrawal of these 

 ducks is in full operation, and, in average seasons, the 

 great bulk of them leave our coasts during its concluding 

 week. 



Wigeon, on their first arrival — about mid-September, 

 and during the remainder of that month and a great part 

 of October — remain inside harbour throughout the day, 

 instead of flying out to sea at dawn, as is their invariable 

 habit later on. During the period mentioned, the wigeon 

 may be seen all day long floating lazily about the open 

 water, or swimming round the edges of the mud-banks, 

 toying with the blades of the Zostera marina. Naturally, 

 the punt-gunners take advantage of this habit, and during 

 the first month of their sojourn on our coast a good many 

 wigeon fall victims to the big guns. Before the advent of 

 November, however, their habits undergo an entire altera- 

 tion. Whether they have learned wisdom in the bitter 



