114 THE WIGEON. 



to a specimen which was killed in Gordon Bog.^ It has 

 been occasionally observed on the Tweed at Paxton. Mr, 

 Hardy relates that numbers have been obtained at the 

 Cove Shore in winter. Small flocks of Wigeon sometimes 

 visit the mill pond at Foulden New Mains, and Mr. Milli- 

 can, the tenant of that farm, informed me on the 6th of 

 November 1886 that some time previous to that date he 

 had killed six out of a flock one morning. It has been 

 occasionally observed on the Eden near Nenthorn during 

 hard weather by Mr. Black, Girrick. Great numbers of 

 Wigeon were formerly taken in decoy ponds, as many as 

 44,677 having been caught at the decoy of Steeple, in 

 Canney Marsh, Essex, between 1714 and 1726,^ and it 

 affords more sport than any other duck to the wild-fowl 

 shooter on the coast. 



The food of this bird consists of grass, aquatic plants, 

 and insects, and Mr. Waterton records that, unlike the 

 Teal and Mallard, which obtain nearly the whole of their 

 food during the night, it feeds in the day-time. It has a 

 rapid flight and a whistling cry, and is a savoury dish 

 for the table. 



A few Wigeon nest in the shires of Eoss, Sutherland, 

 and Cromarty, and thence northwards.^ 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. ix. p. 230. 



2 Yarrell's British Birds, fourth edition, vol. iv. p. 398. 



3 Seebohm, British Birds, vol. iii. p. 539. 



^^ 



