398 ANATID^. 



Britain. Ou this point Sir R. Payne-Gallwey's * Fowler in 

 Ireland ' (pp. 36-48) may be consulted. 



The Wigeon usually appears about the end of September 

 or the beginning of October, and flocks continue to arrive 

 at intervals till the weather becomes severe. Waterton 

 observes that " the "Wigeon is a much more familiar bird 

 than either the Pochard or the Teal. While these congre- 

 gate on the water, beyond the reach of man, the Wigeon 

 appears to have divested itself of the timidity observable in 

 all other species of wild-fowl, and approaches very near to 

 our habitations. A considerable time elapsed before I was 

 enabled to account satisfactorily for the Wigeon remaining 

 here during the night ; a circumstance directly at variance 

 with the habits of its congeners, which, to a bird, pass the 

 night away from the place where they have been staying 

 during the day. But, upon paying a much closer attention 

 to it than I had formerly been accustomed to do, I observed 

 that it differed from them all, both in the nature of its food, 

 and in the time of procuring it. The Mallard, the Pochard, 

 and the Teal, obtain nearly the whole of their nourishment 

 during the night. On the contrary, the Wigeon procures 

 its food in the day time, and that food is grass. He who 

 has an opportunity of watching the Wigeon when it is undis- 

 turbed and allowed to follow the bent of its own inclinations, 

 will find that, while the Mallard, the Pochard, and the Teal, 

 are sporting on the water, or reposing on the bank at their 

 ease, it is devouring with avidity that same kind of short 

 grass on which the Goose is known to feed. Hence, though 

 many flocks of Wigeon s accompany the other water-fowl in 

 their nocturnal wanderings, still numbers of them pass the 

 whole of the night here ; and this I know to be a fact, by 

 their singular whistling noise, which is heard at all hours." 



The Editor has been favoured by Mr. Cordeaux with the 

 following interesting statement : — 



"From an old decoy book — that of Steeple, in Canney 

 Marsh, Essex — I find that between the years 1714—1726, 

 44,677 Wigeon were taken in the following monthly pro- 

 portions :— August, 1,085 ; Sept., 15,897 ; Oct., 18,671 ; 



