H THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



or fair weather, Ducks are invariably tamer than in 

 rough. In the latter they are for ever tossed about, 

 on the move, and consequently watchful. In calms 

 they can judge the depth of the shallows exactly; 

 in rough weather they may reach the bottom one 

 moment with their bills and the next be poised high 

 on a wave. Unlike Geese, they strongly object in a 

 storm to expose the whole body, when feeding, on the 

 land. In a disturbed sea they do not approach the 

 shore in search of food, save when they can discern 

 convenient shelter for doing so. White frosts being 

 the sure precursors of rain and wind, most likely 

 the same day, unsettle all wildfowl. 



We know what excellent weather prophets they 

 are. When Plovers, and especially Peewits, are heard 

 and seen screaming and wheeling in the evening, it 

 is a sure sign of a dirty night, as this is their usual 

 hour to settle on the ooze or meadows to rest and 

 feed. Curlews (not a solitary one, which will always 

 call in its loneliness) shrieking at night or dusk 

 when the flats are bare, foretell a coming storm. 

 If so inclined and not anxious, they might feed in 

 peace in almost any place they chose to alight on. 

 Diving Ducks, such as the Pochard, Scaup, and 

 Goldeneye, if the weather be settled, delight in a 

 calm, and remain much longer under water feeding, 

 than in a rough sea. In a wave they are tumbled 

 about, although this does not affect them so much 

 as it does surface Ducks, and cannot as comfortably 

 take breath between their immersions. If seen to 

 sleep and rest on a calm day (most unusual to 

 them), depend upon it, it is but a calm before a 

 storm, as most such placid days are after the end 



