12 JANUARY 



some of these degrees are very well marked among 

 those frequenting this lake. The aversion of the 

 cormorant to the most distant sight of man, and the 

 care he takes to keep at least two gunshots from the 

 shore of a lake where none of his kind have forfeited 

 their lives for more than fifty years, may be set 

 down to a guilty conscience. The same cause ac- 

 counts for the wakeful suspicion of the heron ; but 

 why should the blameless ducks and divers manifest 

 such different degrees of confidence ? Next to the 

 coot, the most numerous species here is the common 

 mallard, and on this water it is also the boldest, 

 though in the open country or at sea no bird is 

 more difficult of approach than are wild ducks. 

 Their comparative tameness on the lake is owing, 

 no doubt, to so many having been bred in the sur- 

 rounding woods ; but, then, why does not that con- 

 dition affect the teal also, which always remain 

 nervous and keep aloof 1 Again, take two of the 

 diving ducks, which, though very similar in habits, 

 are very different in their fear of man. The golden- 

 eye takes wing on his distant approach, but the 

 tufted duck shows an engaging, but often misplaced, 

 confidence in his harmless intentions. 



The name goldeneye is commonly applied on the 



