134; SHOOTING. 



many pochards liave beeu taken at one drop as filled a waggon, so 

 as to require four stout horses to carry them away ; and tlie lower 

 birds in the pens have been known to be killed and pressed entirely 

 flat, from the numbers of their companions heaped up above them 

 by the fatal stoppage of the poles and nets._ The few attempts 

 made to domesticate the pochard have been hitherto unsuccessfud. 

 They do tolerably well where there is plenty of water, but cannot 

 bear Avalking about on hard, pebbly grounds."* 

 ■ These birds leave the northern regions on tlie commencement of 

 winter, and direct then- course southward. It is said that they 

 frequent Egypt, and the entire section of the Holy Land, and are 

 very numerous_ in some of_ the lakes and marshy districts hi 

 America, especially in Carolina and Louisiana. Li France they 

 make their appearance about the month of October, in numerous 

 flocks, and about the aime period they may be found in aU the low 

 and fenny districts of Great Britain. 



We have seen capital sport with the gun in_ shooting these bkds, 

 especially in a severe snow storm, accompanied with a hard frost. 

 They are not so difficult to knock down with tolerably sized shot 

 as some other wild fowl ; it is, however, always a matter of diffi- 

 culty to get -within range_ of them, for they are very shy, and 

 remarkably quick in recognizing an enemy. 



The Widgeon. {Anas Penelope, Linn.) — This weU-known bird 

 weighs about twenty-three ounces, and measures nearly twenty 

 inches in length, and two feet three in breadth. The bill is an 

 inch and a half long, narrow, and its outer edges are serrated. 

 The upper mandible is of a dark leaden hue, tipped with black. 

 The crowii of the head is very high and narroAV, and is of a cream 

 colour, with a small spot of the same under each eye. The rest of 

 the head, the neck, and the breast, are of a bright rufous chestnut, 

 faintly freckled on the head with black spots, and darkest on the 

 chin and throat, which are tinged with a vinous coloui-. A band 

 composed of beautifully waved or indented narrow ash-brown and 

 white Imes separates the breast and neck. The scapulars and back 

 are marked mth similar feathers, as are also the sides of the body 

 under the Avings, even as low as the thighs. These, however, are 

 paler. The beUy to the vent is white, and the ridge of the wing 

 and adjoining coverts are of a dusky ash-colour, approaching to 

 brown. The great coverts are brown, fringed with white, and 

 tipped with black, which forms a border to the changeable green 

 heautij-spots of the wings, which arehkewise bordered on the under 

 side by the deep velvet black tips of the secondary quills. The 

 exterior webs of the adjoining quills are white, and those next the 

 back, which are very long, are of a deep brown, fringed with 

 yellowish white. The greater quills are brown, the vent and 

 upper tail-coverts are black. 



Widgeons fly in small flocks during the night, and may be dis- 



* Rural Sports, vol. iii, p. 281. 



