6 THE DUCK 



away, and the gunner can so calculate his move- 

 ments that, by making a dttour, he is able to bring 

 himself within comfortable range. The bird is a 

 diving duck. 



Food : animal and vegetable in much variety, 

 including insects, grass, small shell-fish, seeds, and 

 grain. 



THE POCHARD (Fuligula ferind] 



The pochard, a diving duck, may be known by 

 its ruddy chestnut head and neck, its black breast, 

 and its body of pale grey mottled with countless 

 delicate specks and wavings of darker hue. The 

 female has a dusky, reddish-brown head, ash-coloured 

 breast, and a back of darker shade than that of the 

 male. In length the pochard is about 20 inches. 

 Migrants begin to arrive during the early part of 

 October. The pochard is known locally as the dun- 

 bird, the poker, and the red-head. Years ago 

 pochard visited us in enormous numbers in such 

 numbers, indeed, that an ingenious method of taking 

 them could be largely and profitably practised in the 

 eastern counties, where then, as now, the bird existed 

 much more abundantly than elsewhere in our islands. 

 In Daniel's ' Rural Sports ' the method is thus 

 described : 



A decoy for dun-birds is called a flight-pond, and has 



