DUCK. 



and the ducks, observing his manoeuvres, enticed 

 perhaps by curiosity, gradually approach the shore, 

 until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards 

 of the spot where the gunner lies concealed, and from 

 which he rakes them first on the water, ,md then as 

 they rise. This method is called toiling t/icm in. It' 

 the ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glaring object, 

 such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's 



middle or to his tail ; and this rarely tails to attract 

 them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sportsman 

 directs his skiff towards a rlock whose position he had 

 previously ascertained, keeping within the projecting 

 shadow of some wood, bank, or headland, and pad- 

 dles along so silemly, and imperceptibly, as often to 

 approach within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of 

 many thousands, among whom he generally makes 

 great slaughter." So much are those birds esteemed. 

 that every stratagem which the fowler can invent is 

 had recourse to for the capture of them ; and they 

 are so numerous that those employed in this way are 

 generally very successful. 



THE SoAci' POCHARD (F. mania}. This species 

 is also a native of both continents, ha'-ing nearly the 

 same habits as the others, breeding in the northern 

 marshes, and migrating southward in the winter. It 

 is smaller than the last mentioned, or than the red- 

 headed pochard, being about eighteen inches long 

 and twenty-nine in the stretch of the wings, and 

 weighing rather more than a pound and a half. The 

 colours both of the naked parts and of the plumage 

 are subject to variations at different ages, and also in 

 different individuals. In general the bill is bluish, the 

 feet lead colour, the irides golden yellow, and the 

 win^ r -spots white. The head, which is tumid, is 

 v green half way down the nape, the neck, breast, 

 and lower part of the hind neck black ; the back and 

 scapulars \\hite, with waving lines of black ; primary 

 quills brownish black ; secondaries white with black 

 tips ; belly white, marked with black near the vent ; 

 vent feathers, rump, and tail coverts black, and tail 

 feathers dusky brown. The female has the front and 

 s of the head white, the rest of the head brownish, 

 and the general colour inclining 1 more to brown in the 

 male bird. In consequence of this colour of the 

 female, the species is sometimes called the white-faced 

 duck. Their principal food is understood to be small 

 shelled mollusea and aquatic worms; in search of 

 which they range the flat banks in the bays and estu- 

 aries ; but they are indiscriminate in their feeding, 

 and very easily tamed. 



WHITE-EYED POCHARD (F. nyroca). This species 

 gets its name from the whiteness of the irides, which 

 give it a peculiar expression. It is about seventeen 

 inches in length, and two pounds weight. Mead and 

 all the fore part rust colour, with a collar of darker, 

 and a white spot on the chin. Back and wings black, 

 glossed with purple, and marked with small red spots. 

 Primary quills dusky ; secondaries with white bases, 

 and black tips, forming a white and black wing-spot. 

 Tail dusky brown. The female has the head brown, 

 and the back dusky, and without the reflections. This 

 species has the same habits as the other pochards ; 

 and, like them, it resorts to the " ducking grounds" 

 during the winter ; but it appears to come to Eng- 

 land from an eastern migration, and is exceedingly, if 

 not altogether, unknown in Scotland. 



Turri:n POCIIAKD (F. crhtata}. This species gets 

 its name from a crest of about two inches in length, 

 which is pendent from the hind part of the head. It is a 



migrant bird like the others, though, probably, it does 

 not range so far ; because though not so common in this 

 country as several of the others, it continues longer, 

 chiefly on the fresh waters, and more inland than the 

 other pochards. It is about a foot and a half long, and 

 weighs twenty-six ounces. Bill and legs black"; the 

 former broadened toward the tip, and with a black 

 nail ; irides dull, yet low: the head, neck, and cust 



black, but with rich reflections of green and purple. 

 The middle of the back and the breast, black, without 

 any reflection ; the scapulars and sides mottled black 

 and grey ; lower breast and belly pure white ; flanks 

 and vent feathers black ; tail feathers dusky, wings 

 black, but having a white spot on the secondaries. 

 The female and the young are duskv brown on those 

 places which answer to the white in the male, and 

 they are without any crest. 



HED-CUKSTED POCHARD (F. rufina). This sperii s 

 belongs chiefly or exclusively to the eastern hemi- 

 sphere, ranging as far as the mountains of central 

 Asia. It is much less known in western Europe ; 

 and its appearance in Britain is verv rare, and always 

 in the south-east, where a small flock may be seen at 

 long intervals. From what is known of its habits, it 

 appears to be less a sea bird than any other of the 

 pochards. The male is a particularly handsome bird. 

 The bill is red with a white nail, and the feet red 

 with black webs. The nail of the bill is much produced 

 and pointed, and extended over the lower mandible, 

 like a hook. The head and crest, the latter composed 

 of long silky feathers and very handsome, are rich red- 

 dish chestnut with purple reflections. The hind part of 

 the head, breast, and middle of the belly, are brown, 

 and the vent feathers black ; the back is brownish 

 ash, with tvvo crescent spots of white on the scapular?, 

 which nearly me'et. The sides are white, mottled 

 with brown at the margins ; the wing spot is also 

 white, and the rump and upper coverts of the tail 

 green with purple reflections. The female has no 

 creel, and the head and upper part are more inclining 

 to brown than in the male. 



There are several other varieties of pochards, or, 

 at least, of diving ducks, analogous to them, especially 

 on the northern shores of Arnerica, and in some of 

 the Antarctic countries ; but too little is known 

 respecting them for their being admitted into a merely 

 popular list. 



LONG-TAILED HARELD (Harelda glacialis). This 

 species is in many respects analogous to the pochards ; 

 it is a diving duck, and makes its appearance at the 

 same season, and U is like them, common to the colder 

 regions of the whole northern hemisphere. It has 

 sometimes been confounded with the pintail, princi- 

 pally, we believe, because both agree in having their 

 tails longer than any other ducks ; but still they arc 

 different in their habits, and belong to separate divi- 

 sions. This species has the bill very short, and black, 

 with a transverse red stripe ; a large patch of chest- 

 nut brown on the sides of the neck. Length from 

 twenty to twenty-one inches, owing to the elongation 

 of the middle tail feathers ; but the bird is only aiiout 

 the size of a pigeon. This bird inhabits Europe, 

 Asia, and America ; frequenting both the interior lakes 

 and the sea shores of those quarters of the world. 

 The birds of this species do not, like many other of 

 the tribes, entirely quit their northern haunts in win- 

 ter, but considerable numbers reside permanently in 

 the' polar regions. Numerous flocks, however, spread 

 themselves southward in the winter from Greenland 



