THE MOSS BIXDS. 



35 



that the duck swallowed it when feeding on some 

 dark night in mistake for a small potato.* 



WIDGEON. One of the commonest of the winter visitors. The 

 areai pcndopc.) j O y o f the moss duck shooter, and the mainstay of 

 the professional " fleeters." I have seen these birds in 

 the decoy at Hale, " looking " as tame as any pinioned 

 bird on the lake of some public park, but let them 

 see you, and they are off like lightning. Their cry 

 is not at all duck-like. The " Whee-oh " of the cock 

 bird has probably got them their local name of 

 " Wowin widgin." 



TEAL. Very common on the moss in the winter. Occasion- 



( Qucrqmdula crccoa.) ally shot on the shore and more secluded pools. A 



flock of from fifty to a hundred and fifty of these 



iurtis, she vanished into thin air, unwounded and unhurt. ' (Note by the writer.) " When ilshing away 

 up in Koss-shire last year at a lonely lodge fifty miles from anywhere, we often came across an old 

 luck crossing the Loch with her tiny brooiilings ' in tow.' The old ducks adopted similar measures 



hen to nttmrt in; aivav fri^m thrtr nrprirtlit; IJfflo rm " 



then to attract us awav from their precious little ones. 



