THE WIDGEON. 205 



lous city the call-note of the widgeon is heard during night- 

 time. As remarked in a note furnished to Mr. Thompson's 

 work, flocks of wild fowl pass regularly over the houses, par- 

 ticularly in early winter and spring. Between 10 and 11 o'clock 

 on the night of the 20th of March, large flocks continued 

 passing for nearly three-quarters of an hour, the loud, clear 

 calls of which afforded evidence of their species ; at other 

 times in the same situation the " whaup" of the curlew is of 

 common occurrence ; and on one occasion, in November, 

 1852, the loud hooping call-note of the wild swan rang out 

 clearly and distinctly in the silence of midnight. These cries 

 are familiar to those whose avocations lead them to be out of 

 doors at the time of flight, particularly to the police force of 

 the city, many of whom remark the passage and calling of 

 " wild geese," to which birds the sounds are attributed, 

 birds rarely ever known to us as occurring at night-time over 

 the city. 



Whether these birds be attracted by the glare of gas-light 

 in the city we know not, but it is certain many ducks and 

 smaller birds have been obtained by striking themselves vio- 

 lently against the glass of lighthouses, attracted from a dis- 

 tance by its brightness an occurrence noticed by Longfellow 

 in his work : 



*' The sea-bird, wheeling round it with the din 



Of wings, and winds, and solitary cries, 

 Blinded and maddened by the light within, 

 Dashes himself against the glare, and dies." 



From the observation of Mr. John Hill, who has had many 

 opportunities of remarking their habits, and who has used the 

 swivel gun to a considerable extent upon their flocks in Dublin 

 Bay, the usual mode of proceeding adopted is to move silently 

 towards them at early dawn in a punt, at the western end of 

 the island at Clontarf, where they are usually congregated, 

 and having approached sufficiently near to fire, sometimes 

 with such effect that as many as twenty or twenty-five birds 

 have been obtained by the one discharge ; after the report of 

 the swivel the flocks become so wild that for that day all fur- 

 ther approach would be impossible. 



Habitat Northern Europe. 



