WATER-FOWL IN LONDON 301 



tion. We are never weary of seeing them swim about 

 together, almost as often under water as above it. 

 Particularly pleasant is it to watch them from some 

 bridge, when the divers can be seen dashing about 

 under water, with all but the velocity of fish, then 

 suddenly popping brilliantly out from the veil that 

 the water had drawn over their beauty. 



A quieter scheme of colour is effected by the pin- 

 tail, now fortunately often to be seen in our parks. 

 The clumsy sketcher soon realises the inimitable grace 

 of the whole contour, from the neck made to look more 

 slender than it is by an artful white line, to the long 

 pointed feathers that complete the sweep of the body. 

 The delicate browns and milky chocolates that take 

 the place of more prominent markings in most other 

 ducks make the colour-scheme of the pintail a more 

 lasting delight than that of nearly all the others. 

 Then we have the shoveller that, incredible as it may 

 seem to the uninitiated, generally passes muster as a 

 mallard, with perhaps a little more white on him than 

 usual. He is one of the most luxurious of drakes, 

 never being seen without his plain mate, content to 

 paddle in his wake without asking whither. Their 

 large beaks earn for them the discriminating title of 

 spoonbill. The effective shovelling they do with 

 them makes us wonder why every duck in the lake 

 has not infringed the patent long ago. 



The red-headed pochard usually goes among chil- 

 dren by the affectionate name of " coppernob." His 

 cloak is a quakerish dove colour, his muffler a brilliant 

 but respectable black, and his bright " carroty " head 

 always looks as though it had been freshly shampooed 

 and machine-brushed, so fiercely stands up each par- 



