58 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



and pools. They are extremely shy fowl, and never 

 haunt open waters or bare mud flats. They prefer, 

 rather, lonely pools and rush-grown lakes to bleak 

 unsheltered spots, and differ from Wigeon in this 

 respect. The birds before referred to had to be 

 gently driven from a maze of aquatic herbage. They 

 would silently paddle to the verge of the clear space 

 in the centre of the mere, then turn back and thread 

 their way in and out among the reeds and water- 



THE GADWALL. 



plants. If too much noise was made in doing this, 

 they would rise singly and cross to a distant corner, 

 there remaining hidden from view. They were 

 never seen by day to swim in the open space with 

 the Duck and Teal. 



A Gadwall is larger than any Wigeon, to which 

 species it has been compared in size and weight by 

 modern writers on ornithology. 



The male Gadwall is a fine plump-looking bird, 

 with a very broad chest, in weight equalling, and 

 sometimes excelling, the female Wild-duck. His 



