164 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



of complete freedom, was shot down in my presence 

 by a person who had seen the poor bird on wing 

 repeatedly, and excused his misdeed by saying that 

 the " sun was in his eyes ! " This bird roamed up 

 and down our river to considerable distances unmo- 

 lested during the period above-mentioned, and some- 

 times remained away from home for two or three 

 days together ; it was certainly a cruel fate that led 

 to his destruction at the hands of an old friend and 

 one of the most merciful of men, within a few yards 

 of the spot where he, the victim, first saw the light of 

 the Orb that was alleged as the cause of his massacre. 



181. WIGEON. 



Mareca penelope. 



The Wigeon is a regular autumnal visitor to the 

 valley of Nen ; the earliest date of appearance of 

 which I find a record in my journals is September 8, 

 but at Lilford we are seldom visited by any very 

 large flocks of Wigeon, except in the first three 

 months of the year, and of late these visits have 

 been very exceptional ; as a general rule these 

 birds appear about the middle or end of September, 

 either singly or in small parties of from four to six 

 individuals. Last year (1889), however, thirty-five 

 dropped suddenly on to our decoy- pool (on which 

 two or three had been constantly since September 8) 

 on October 23 ; twenty-three were immediately 

 caught, and were without exception birds of the 

 year. In August, 1874, I shot an old male Wigeon 

 in full moult, on a reedy backwater near Lilford ; 

 this bird had, no doubt, from some cause been left 

 behind by his companions on their northward vernal 



