ON THE HIGHLAND LOCHS. 225 



the female golden-eye nearly equal to that of the male. I 

 have shot them, right and left, when diving together, the 

 female being the most wary of the two. The morillon may 

 be in the same flock, as different kinds of divers often are ; 

 but there is not half the caution required to get a shot at 

 him, and, when compared, he is much rounder in shape and 

 one-third smaller in size. It may be said, " And why 

 should not this be the young of the same species ? " I 

 answer, That the young males of all the duck tribe that 

 breed in this country, from the mallard to the teal, gain 

 their bright feathers the first moulting, after which the 

 young males are at least equal in size To the females. But 

 my chief reason I have already given If the morillon 

 is the young bird, why should he reverse the usual order 

 of things, and be less tender and delicate than his 

 parents?* 



When several are diving together, you must get as near 

 as possible without alarming them ; and, selecting a couple 

 who dive at the same moment, hoot away the others, who 

 will be far out of reach before their companions come up. 

 They will probably never miss them until they have taken 

 two or three dives, thus giving you an opportunity of 

 getting the shot ; of which you would have had a much 

 worse chance while they were together. 



* Mr Baker, the bird-fancier, assures me that there are a couple of 

 morillous in the Regent's Park, which have been there some years, and 

 show no signs of the golden-eye. His words are " Any one may see the 

 difference at a glance." There is a mark of faded orange, or dingy white, 

 upon the morillon' s lill, that I never detected on a golden-eye's, young or old. 



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