WIGEON . 291 



than in the daytime. On the wing teal are extremely swift, and when 

 in company with other ducks they generally rise separately. Water- 

 plants constitute their chief food. In summer these birds are generally 

 found singly in small pools amid the marshes, and the nest, which is 

 of the type characteristic of the duck-tribe in general, is not infrequently 

 found at a considerable distance from the water, to which, it is believed, 

 the ducklings are sometimes carried one by one on their parent's back, 

 Of the eggs, which in Scotland are commonly laid in May, from eight 

 to ten go to form a clutch. Although generally smaller — the larger 

 diameter being less than two inches — they are practically impossible 

 to distinguish from those of the garganey ; so that the only method 

 of discriminating between the nests of the two species is by the colour 

 of the down in which the eggs are packed, this being sooty or chocolate- 

 brown in colour, with a white central star and a pale brown tip to 

 each filament, in the present species. 



As the European teal occasionally wanders to the western hemi- 

 sphere, so it is probable that a few individuals of the American green- 

 winged teal {Nettiuvi carolincnse) may sometimes reach the British 

 Isles, although it does not appear certain that the individuals recorded 

 there may not have escaped from captivity. One such specimen is 

 stated to have been secured in Yorkshire in 1852, but no particulars 

 were taken; a second was recorded from Devonshire in 1879, and a 

 third in Hampshire in the following year. The bird may be dis- 

 tinguished from the ordinary teal by the presence of a whitish crescent 

 on each side of the upper part of the breast, and by the indistinctness 

 of the white border to the green face-patch. 



,-, The name wigeon, it has been suggested, may be 



Wigeon (Mareea , . . ^ && » / 



> derived from an old French word vizcon, stated in 



penelope). , . . <:> ' 



Laronsse s French Dictionaty to be the name of an 



American bird. Be this as it ma}-, the wigeon is the typical repre- 

 sentative of a genus of three species which may be distinguished from 

 the teal by the greater relative size of the " nail " at the tip of the 

 beak ; this being more (instead of less) than one-third the width of 

 the latter. The beak itself is small, being shorter than the head, 

 depressed and slightly narrowed towards the tip, while the wings are 

 long and pointed ; the tail is short, with the fourteen outer feathers 

 pointed and the middle ones slightly elongated ; the front of the shank 

 of the leg is covered with shield-like scales ; and the hind-toe is small 

 with a narrow lobe. 



The wigeon -drake, which measures 18 inches in length and 



