42 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



birds, their well-known cry serving as a signal of 

 danger to all the wildfowl within hearing distance. 



They are a first-rate bird for the table, particularly 

 when a few severe frosts have taken down a little of 

 the fat with which they are almost covered when they 

 first arrive on the mudbanks. 



I have once or twice observed small flocks of young 

 birds in the Nook, at Rye Harbour, in Sussex, as early 

 as July ; but this I should imagine must be two or three 

 months sooner than they are usually found so far 

 south. 



As will be seen by the specimens in the case, the 

 young when first hatched have only a short bill like a 

 Plover. 



The old birds with their brood were obtained on the 

 hills in Glenlyon, in Perthshire, in June, 1867. 



WILD DUCK. 



Case 51. 



Though not so numerous as some species of our British 

 wildfowl, the Wild Duck is by far the most generally 

 known, occurring at various seasons in all parts of the 

 island. 



There have been several discussions in the sporting 

 papers about the time that this bird commences nest- 

 ing, some of the dates given being a month or two in 

 advance of others. 



There can, however, be little doubt that in some 

 localities the birds pair and the eggs are laid consider- 

 ably earlier than in others. 



Local naturalists frequently fancy that the habits of 

 the birds all over the British Islands must be the 



