178 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS. 



during the remainder of that month and a great part of 

 October, are very apt to remain inside harbour throughout 

 the day, instead of flying out to sea at dawn, as is their 

 habit later on. During the period above mentioned, the 

 Wigeon may be seen all day long floating lazily about the 

 open water, or swimming round the edges of the mud-banks, 

 plucking up the blades of the Zostera marina. Naturally, 

 the punt-gunners take advantage of this habit, and during 

 the first month of their sojourn on our coast a good many 

 Wigeons fall victims to the big guns. Before the advent of 

 November, however, their habits undergo an entire trans- 

 formation. Whether they have learned wisdom in the bitter 

 school of experience, or otherwise, it is rare to find these 

 ducks about the oozes during the day in any considerable 

 numbers after the 1st of November. 



This phase in the character of Wigeon is rather remark- 

 able, and appears at first sight to point to the conclusion 

 that they are, by nature, diurnal in their habits, and that 

 they are only driven to acquire night-feeding proclivities by 

 the influence of man, and by considerations of safety. But, 

 on further examination, this conclusion appears hardly to be 

 borne out, though Wigeon are undoubtedly far more disposed 

 to feed by day than are the Mallard. It must be remem- 

 bered that, in their northern breeding grounds (whence they 

 have newly returned), there is practically, during their 

 sojourn there, no night at all. Even in Central Norway 

 there is no darkness, and in their grand resorts in Lapland 

 and corresponding latitudes, midnight is indistinguishable 

 from noon. Consequently they then acquire promiscuous 

 habits ; and, like other Arctic voyagers, they eat when hungry 

 and sleep when tired, without much regard to solar chronol- 

 ogy. On first arrival here, the Wigeon, and especially the 

 young birds, which now for the first time experience the 

 regular alternations of light and darkness, continue the 

 somewhat anomalous habits acquired in northern lands, 

 where the summer sun never sets, or at least his light never 

 dies out, In a few weeks, however, they adapt themselves 

 to the altered conditions, and become absolutely nocturnal in 

 their habits. 



