THE POCHARD. 



227 



They are generally plentiful in our markets, where the young and 

 females not unfrequently go under the comprehensive name of 

 Widgeons. 



The Golden Eye flies low and rapidly. In the month of Novem- 

 ber it reaches France in small flocks, to remain till the spring. As 

 it is not a shy bird, the sportsmen on the sea-coasts of Picardy, 

 Normandy, and the Landes, kill large quantities of them. 





THE POCHARD OR DUNBIRD (Anas ferind). 



The Pochard nearly resembles the American Canvas-back Duck, 

 but is unlike any British species in form. Its body (of the male) 



Fig. 85. Pochard. 



is large, full, depressed, and elliptical in form ; its neck long and 

 thick ; the head large, oblong, compressed, and rounded above. The 

 plumage is dense, soft, and glossy. The feathers on the fore part 

 of the head are small and stiff; on the remainder of the head and 

 neck, soft, silky, and blended. The wings are short, curved, narrow, 

 and pointed ; the bill black to a little behind the nostrils, the inter- 

 mediate space light greyish blue ; the head, and half the neck all 

 round, are of a fine brownish-orange tint. 



The Pochard (Fig. 85) is, next to that of the Common Wild Duck, 

 the variety which is most plentiful on our waters. It is almost as 

 large as the latter ; it makes its nest in the rushes round pools or 

 lakes, and feeds upon the roots of grasses and aquatic plants, also on 

 worms, molluscs, and small fish. They are plentiful in the east of 

 England south of the Humber, and in the fen counties ; and it 

 occurs in America, where, as Dr. Richardson states, it breeds in all 



