169 



THE GAME-DUCKS. 



Under the head of ''Game-ducks" there are included, from 

 a wildfowler's point of view, those members of the duck tribe 

 which are met with on the sheltered waters of land-locked 

 estuaries — in other words, on waters where a gunning-punt 

 can be safely navigated. These are chiefly the surface-feeding 

 ducks, such as Mallard, Wigeon, &c., which feed by night; 

 but a certain section of the diving ducks, such as Scaup, 

 Golden-eye, &c., also frequent these same situations by day, 

 and must therefore be regarded as forming a sub-division of 

 the Game-ducks. The remaining section of diving ducks, 

 being confined exclusively to the open sea, are seldom or 

 never met with in waters where a gunning-punt can venture. 

 These are classified, in wildfowling parlance, as sea-ducks, 

 and to them I will refer in a subsequent chapter. 



By far the most important of the ducks included in the 

 first-named category are the Mallard and Wigeon, From 

 September till March they are both the most numerous, 

 the most valuable, and the most sporting fowl on the coast- 

 gunner's game list. To him these two species are just what 

 the Partridge and Pheasant are to the inland sportsman, 

 and, correspondingly, the Bren^ Geese on the coast take the 

 place of the Grouse on the heather. The habits of the 

 Mallard when on the coast vary to some extent from those 

 of all their congeners ; it will, in fact, be found in every 

 case, when closely examined, that each species possesses 

 individual characteristics peculiar to itself. The different con- 

 ditions of natural disposition, food requirements, and general 

 physical economies of every separate species vary so in- 

 finitely, that a close study of these conditions and of their 



