WIGEON. 191 



its abundance, generally sells at a moderate price. Its habits 

 in some respects resemble those of the Wild Duck, and great 

 quantities are taken with them in decoys ; while for coast 

 night-shooting, Colonel Hawker says, the Wigeon is like the 

 fox for hunting, it shows the finest sport of anything in Great 

 Britain. Ample directions for approaching and getting shots 

 at these birds on the coast will be found in this gentleman's 

 most amusing and instructive work on all that relates to guns 

 and shooting. 



The Wigeon appears first about the end of September or 

 the beginning of October, and flocks continue to arrive at 

 intervals till the weather becomes severe. Mr. Waterton 

 observes that the " Wigeon is a much more familiar bird 

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

 gregate 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 en- 

 abled to account satisfactorily for the Wigeons 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 undisturbed, 

 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 



