

The True Ducks. 213 



to locality : those birds shot on inland 

 waters, and especially those which have 

 fed on grass, being for the most part 

 excellent for the table, whereas those shot 

 on the sea-coast are coarse and fishy. 



Mr. Seebohm thus describes the general 

 habits of Wigeon : "The Wigeon has 

 probably derived its name from its remark- 

 able note, but, as is usual in cases of this 

 kind, it requires a considerable stretch of 

 imagination to recognise the similarity. 

 The cry of this Duck is a loud prolonged 

 whistle or scream, immediately followed 

 by a short note. I can best represent it 

 by the syllables mee-yu^ the first very loud 

 and prolonged, the last low and short. It 

 sounds very wild and weird, as it startles 

 the ear on the margin of a mountain 

 tarn or moorland lake, a solitary cry, very 

 high in key, not unmusical in tone, but loud 

 and piercing one of the most familiar 

 sounds on the banks of the Petchora and 

 the Yenesay, where the Wigeon is very 

 abundant, especially on the lakes and 

 swamps of the borderland, where the forest 

 merges into the tundra not far north of 

 the Arctic circle. . . . The Wigeon is a 

 bird of rapid and almost noiseless flight, 

 and is very shy, especially when collected 

 in large flocks, which are almost impos- 



