ANATIDjE. 125 



proaches very near to our habitations. A consider- 

 able time elapsed before I was enabled to account 

 satisfactorily for the Wigeon's remaining here during 

 the night ; a circumstance directly at variance with 

 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.' 



My friend Captain Henry Elwes, of the Scots 

 Fusileer Guards, tells me that a pair of Wigeons were 

 observed frequenting the reed and osier beds on the 

 banks of the Thames, between Windsor and Datchet, as 

 late as the month of May, i860. They were supposed 

 to have a nest there, but it was never discovered. 



Common Scoter {Oidemia nigra). Like the last- 

 named, a winter visitor, but of more rare occurrence. 

 The flesh of this bird has a very fishy taste, and is 

 but little esteemed for the table. Mr. Yarrell gives 

 an interesting account, which I shall quote, of the 

 manner in which these birds are taken on the salt- 

 lakes near Martignes, at the mouth of the Rhone. 

 He says: 'These numerous salt-lakes are frequented 

 in winter by large flocks of aquatic birds. With the 



