POCHARD. 167 
WIGEON. 
MARECA PENELOPE (Linneus). 
During the winter months great numbers of Wigeon 
frequent the estuaries of the Dee and Mersey; and 
although it is less common inland, most of the meres, 
and even the Longdendale reservoirs, over thirty miles 
from the nearest salt water in the Mersey Estuary, are 
visited from time to time by this species. 
Brockholes says:—‘I have known two instances of 
the Wigeon nesting and rearing young at Puddington’; 
and, ‘on July 20th, 1863, I shot a Wigeon at Puddington, 
close to where some young ones were reared in the 
spring.’ He informed the late A. G. More of this fact, 
and added that he had killed a Wigeon at the same 
spot in August 1862.2 Although it was assumed by 
Mr. More that these birds were wild, in the absence of 
fuller details it seems to us probable that they were 
pinioned birds or had escaped from confinement. At 
any rate, since that date the Wigeon has not been 
known to nest in Cheshire. 
POCHARD. 
F'ULIGULA FERINA (Linnzeus). 
Comparatively few examples of the Pochard have 
been obtained in Cheshire, and up to the present time 
the bird has never been known to breed in the county. 
Byerley remarks upon its rarity, but says it has been 
shot on flooded meadows at Hoylake ;* and Brockholes 
1 Brockholes, op. cit. p. 14. 
2 A. G. More, Jbis, ser. 1. vol. i. p. 444. 1865. 
3 Byerley, op. cit. p. 21. 
