ro8 



THE NATURE BOOK 



WIGEON. 



the increase as a breeding species. In 

 both sexes the head tuft is unmistak- 

 able : in old males the elongated feathers 

 extend an inch or two beyond the nape ; 

 in the females they are not so apparent, 

 and the black is not nearly so intense. 

 In both sexes of the Golden Eye the 

 feathers on the nape and upper neck 

 are thick and narrowed at the back, but 

 there is no real tuft or plume. The beak 

 and feet of the Tufted Duck are slate 

 colour, the under parts and wing patch 

 white. The male Golden Eye in full 

 plumage has a large white spot on the 

 face, and the female Tufted Duck has 

 sometimes a small and indistinct patch of 

 white between the eye and the beak ; 

 but the female Scaup always possesses a 

 broad white band at the base of the beak. 

 The young male Scaup shows this less 

 distinctly ; the adult males have the 

 head, neck, and upper part of the breast 

 a lovely glossy green black ; the beak is 

 broad — about as long as the head and 

 slightly tilted upwards — and in colour 

 dull grey with a black nail. The feet 

 and legs are lead colour, whilst in the 

 Golden Eye they are yellow, mottled with 

 black in the young. Both are winter 

 visitors, and their presence often presages 

 hard weather. 



I have heard it said by those who knew 

 him well that the late Mr. E. T. Booth, of 



Photosraph by J. Atkinson, Leeds. 



for an open space in 



otherwise frozen sheet 



never seem to make a mistake by 



up under the adjacent ice, however 



small the diameter of the "wake" may 



Brighton 'M u- 

 s e u m fame, 

 could identify 

 most of our 

 birds by hand- 

 ling them behind 

 his back ; and 

 in the case of 

 the Golden Eye 

 — the most ex- 

 pert of our div- 

 ing ducks — the 

 largely devel- 

 oped hind toe 

 would be the 

 first thing to be 

 felt for. It is 

 marvellous to 

 watch these rest- 

 less birds con- 

 stantly diving for 

 food in a "wake" 

 (the local name 

 the midst of an 

 of water) ; they 

 coming 



