Wild Ducks and Duck Decoying. 207 



the red-crested pochard or whistling duck a 

 rare British visitant, closely resembling its con- 

 gener, but having a long silky crest on the 

 head, and rich black neck, breast, and abdo- 

 men. The visits of this beautiful bird are very 

 rare. 



The scaup is another sea-duck which makes its 

 appearance in autumn in large numbers, resorting 

 to low oozy coasts, where it finds its food. 

 This consists principally of shell-fish, especially 

 mussels; hence it is sometimes called "mussel- 

 duck." It is an expert diver, and a flock of 

 hundreds of scaup may sometimes be seen to 

 immerse themselves at the same moment. Like 

 the division to which it belongs, the scaup is 

 a heavy thick-set duck, and among the least 

 eatable of its kind ; yet hundreds are taken by 

 the fishermen in their nets. Another of the 

 winter ducks is the golden-eye, the mature 

 male of which is among the handsomest and 

 wariest of its kind. The golden-eye reaches 

 our shores about the end of October; the 

 great majority being birds of the year, with 

 only a few matured males among them. 

 Their extreme wariness makes it almost im- 

 possible to approach a flock, and w^hen on 

 sheets of fresh w r ater they persistently keep near 

 the middle. If the duck is difficult to come at 

 by the shore-shooter or on land, it is equally 



