WIGEON NESTING. 49 



owner of the decoy (Lord Caledon) tells me that 

 Wigeon always nested on the pools in small numbers, 

 and that at this date (1881) they occasionally breed 

 there, though not to the extent they did when the 

 decoy was in working order. 



THE AMERICAN WIGEON (A. americana], though 

 of rare occurrence in the British Islands, has occa- 

 sionally been procured in Ireland. Thompson, in 

 his " Natural History of Ireland" (Birds, vol. iii. 

 p. 112), notices one that was shot on Strangford 



THE AMERICAN WIGEON. 



Lough in February, 1844, and others in Belfast Bay. 

 The particular respects in which this bird differs 

 from our own familiar Wigeon will be found fully 

 detailed in the third volume of Yarrell's " British 

 Birds ; " but to enable a comparison to be made, 

 should any of my readers fall in with it, a figure is 

 here given of it. 



THE PINTAIL (Anas acutci) is abundant, but local, 

 in parts of Ireland. It is sometimes called the " Sea 



E 



