234 WILD- FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



though, to those afloat, fishing was of far more 

 interest than all the fowl. Only those fowl which 

 could be eaten were tried for, just for the sake of 

 sometimes varying a very limited diet. If a bird 

 had the bad name of being " a fishy one," powder 

 and shot would not be wasted on him. Although 

 the shooters might know that a Harlequin was about, 

 yet, so far as they were concerned, it would not pay 

 to go in pursuit of it, for it was very certain that all 

 chances would be in favour of the little Magpie 

 Diver. Drake Golden-Eyes in full black-and-white 

 livery I have seen shot, but never at any time the 

 Harlequin. At one time vast quantities of fowl used 

 to gather where small fish were captured for manure 

 only ; tons on tons of fish, which greatly attracted 

 the fowl. Sometimes, as might naturally have been 

 expected, a few birds would get meshed in the act 

 of diving, but not very often did such accidents take 

 place, as the whole lot were very wide-awake. As 

 the natural history system of the present day is 

 carried on in a very different manner to that of the 

 past, things get much more sharply looked into. 

 One matter is very certain, there are not now so 

 many fowl to look at ; and if, among the number 

 there once were, this bird had not been seen and 

 noticed by the fishers, it would not have had that 

 title of Magpie Diver given to it. 



The Long-tailed Hareld, a handsome and stoutly- 

 built sea-duck, is a northern visitor. It has been 

 so well described, from the life, by late writers, 

 that little is left to be said about it. Its curious 



