130 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



the gun of the fowler. They afford the latter excellent 

 sport, and are considered by some excellent eating. 



The en^ of September or the beginning of October is 

 the time when the Wigepns first make their appearance, 

 and fresh arrivals are continually coming until the winter 

 has fairly set in. In March or April the Wigeon again 

 takes flight to more northerly latitudes, for the purpose of 

 breeding. Occasional instances, however, occur of their 

 breeding in some of the higher districts of Scotland. Mr. 

 Proctor noticed a few pairs breeding in Iceland ; the nests 

 were built in low bushes, and very near the edge of the 

 fresh water. 



This bird differs from the Wild Duck, Pochard, and 

 Teal, in its food and the times at which it feeds, the 

 latter being nocturnal feeders, while the former satisfies 

 its hunger by daylight. Mr. Waterton says that the 

 principal food of the Wigeon is grass, the same kind as 

 that to which the Goose is partial. 



Wlgeons choose their mates about the middle of 

 February. The nest is generally placed amongst the rushes 

 or coarse herbage found near the margins of large pieces of 

 water; it is built of dried grasses, reeds, and rushes, and 

 well lined with down from the bird^s body. The eggs 

 number about seven or eight ; they are somewhat smaller 

 than those of the Wild Duck, and are of a creamy-white 

 colour; the length is rather more than two inches, and the 

 breadth one inch and a half. For some time after they 

 leave the nest the young birds keep paddling about amongst 

 the rushes and reeds of the lake. 



The flight is strong and rapid, and the note is a shrill 

 whistle. They are very noisy at night, and when congre- 

 gated in large flocks the whistling is almost continuous. 



