WIGEON. 287 



the table, and, from its abundance, generally sells at a 

 moderate price. Its habits in some respects resemble those 

 of the Wild Duck, and great quantities are taken with 

 them in decoys ; while for coast night-shooting, Colonel 

 Hawker says, the Wigeon is like the fox for hunting, it 

 shows the finest sport of anything in Great Britain. Ample 

 directions for approaching and getting shots at these birds 

 on the coast will be found in this gentleman's most amusing 

 and instructive work on all that relates to guns and 

 shooting. 



The Wigeon appears first about the end of September 

 or the beginning of October, and flocks continue to arrive 

 at intervals till the weather becomes severe. Mr. Water- 

 ton observes that the " Wigeon is a much more familiar 

 bird than either the Pochard or the Teal. While these 

 congregate on the water, beyond the reach of man, the 

 Wigeon appears to have divested itself of the timidity 

 observable in all other species of wild-fowl, and approaches 

 very near to our habitations. A considerable time elapsed 

 before I was enabled to account satisfactorily for the Wi- 

 geons remaining here during the night; a circumstance 

 directly at variance with the habits of its congeners, which, 

 to a bird, pass the night away from the place where they 

 have been staying during the day. But, upon paying a 

 much closer attention to it than I had formerly been ac- 

 customed to do, I observed that it differed from them all, 

 both in the nature of its food, and in the time of pro- 

 curing it. The Mallard, the Pochard, and the Tea], ob- 

 tain nearly the whole of their nourishment during the 

 night. On the contrary, the Wigeon procures its food in 

 the day time, and that food is grass. He who has an 

 opportunity of watching the Wigeon when it is undis- 

 turbed, and allowed to follow the bent of its own inclina- 



