288 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



spelling rapid disaster to the nests of Snipe, Duck, 

 Rail, Pheasant, and of any other bird unlucky 

 enough to have selected a sanctuary too near 

 the river. 



In May, 1907, I actually swam through one 

 haunt of the Gadwall, clothes and all, examining 

 those high tumps of grass which rose superior to 

 the swash. Yet, except for the nest of a Water- 

 Rail and a few belated Pheasants' homes, my 

 novel nesting-trip ended in nothing but much 

 ruin to kit. 



Reports on the Gadwall's general habits are 

 conflicting, and not all the writers on the subject 

 can be correct. One asserts it is shy, skulking, and 

 unsocial ; a second that it is sociable, mingling 

 freely with all kinds of water-fowl ; a third that 

 it is noisy ; a fourth, mute. Others insist that 

 it is indolent and not much addicted to flight ; 

 others, again, that it is the very reverse of this. 

 How all these contradictory statements are to be 

 explained I know not ; but as a field -naturalist 

 who merely narrates what he has seen, and takes 

 notes on the spot, I can in any case dispose of some 

 of this confusion. To me, then, the Gadwall is 

 the essence of restlessness, especially in the early 

 morning and again towards evening, and a bird 

 assuredly living up to its reputation of vociferous - 

 ness, and justifying its scientific name, strepera ; 

 shy in a way, if you will, but certainly no skulker ; 

 friendly towards its fellows, and in a minor degree 



