192 THE WIGEON 



the tribe. In some parts they repair to salt marshes and the sea- 

 shore, where they share the fate of the Wild Duck. 



Willughby tells us that in his time the Teal and Wigeon, considered 

 as marketable goods, were classed together as ' half-fowl ', their 

 value being only half that of the Wild Duck. In the fen counties 

 they are s.till ranked together as ' Half Ducks ', and for the same 

 reason. 



The Teal has two notes, one a kind of quack, the other, uttered 

 by the male only during winter, which has been compared to the 

 whistle of the Plover. Its food consists of water insects, molluscs, 

 worms, and the seeds of grass and sedge. It is widely distributed 

 in Scotland. 



THE GARGANEY 



QUERQUEDULA CIRCIA 



Crown dusky ; over the eye a white band extending down the neck ; throat 

 black ; neck chestnut-brown streaked with white ; breast pale yellowish 

 brown, with crescent-shaped black bars ; back mottled with dusky grey 

 and brown ; speculum greyish green bordered above and below witli 

 white ; bill dark brown ; irides brown ; feet grey. Length sixteen 

 inches. Eggs buff. 



This elegant little bird visits us in March and April, being at that 

 time, it is supposed, on its way to the south. Though not among 

 the rarest of the tribe, it is now of unusual occurrence, but was 

 formerly so regular a visitor in the eastern counties, that it acquired 

 the provincial name of ' Summer Teal/. Young birds are 

 commonly seen on the Broads of Norfolk in July and August, dis- 

 tinguishable from young Teal by the lighter colour of their plumage, 

 more slender habit, and greater length of neck. The nests are built 

 among the thickest reed beds, and owing now to protection their 

 numbers are increasing. In Ireland it is the rarest of the well- 

 known ducks. 



THE WIGEON 



MARECA PENELOPE 



Mali' --head and upper part of the neck chestnut, the cheeks and crown 

 speckled with black ; a broad cream-coloured band extending from the 

 bill to the crown ; throat nearly black ; a narrow collar of white and black 

 wavy lines extending over the back and flanks ; lower part of the neck and 

 sides of the breast chocolate colour ; scapulars velvet-black edged with 

 white ; wing-coverts white ; quills ash-brown ; speculum glossy green, 

 with a black band above and below ; tail wedge-shaped, two middle 

 feathers pointed, and the longest, ilusky ash ; under tail-coverts black ; 

 bill bluish grey, the tip black ; irides hazel ; feet dusky grey. Female — 

 head and neck reddish brown, speckled with dusky ; back and scapulars 

 dusky brown, the feathers edged with rusty red ; wing-coverts brown, 

 edged with whitish ; speculum without the green gloss ; flanks reddish 

 brown. Length twenty inches. Eggs brownish white. 



The name Whew Duck, or Whewer, by which, this bird is 



