IN THE NIGHT. 333 



scattered about, like rooks, till after midnight, unless 

 they become concentrated by the flow of the sur- 

 rounding tide. But in cold weather they sit thick 

 together. 



The first night or two of thaw, after a sharp frost, 

 is the best opportunity for this sport. 



TIME. Was it possible to preserve a public har- 

 bour, wigeon should never be fired at till they had 

 fed for some hours, and got well together ; because a 

 shot fired in the evening, when birds are scattered, 

 seldom produces much, and is apt to make them for- 

 sake the place altogether. If, indeed, they were left 

 till just before daybreak, so much the better. A 

 man who gets upon the mud, or in the creeks, and 

 amuses himself by popping away at evening flight, 

 has, of course, the curse of every regular gunner ; as, 

 by such a practice, he ruins a small harbour in a few 

 nights. Though the best of all shots is when the 

 birds are " on their laxt legs" before the tide flows 

 high, yet shooting at them when actually afloat is 

 not near so well. They are then more scattered : 

 their feathers are not so open : and shooting them at 

 thix time is apt to make them forsake their " feeding 

 ground." 



SOUND. The thicker the weather, the more silent 

 the wigeon, when pitched. A shrill clear pipe denotes 

 a single cock wigeon, as does a long loud " purre" a 

 hen : but when the call of the cock is one short, soft 

 note, and not so often repeated, you may expect to 

 find a company. If so, you will probably soon hear 



