482 Anatidce. 



head and bill showing above water. They prefer inland lakes so 

 long as they are unfrozen. For beauty of feather, no bird can 

 excel the adult male Teal: the dappled breast, the exquisite 

 contrast of velvet black, metallic green, and rich cream yellow, 

 with the graceful sprightly aspect, are unrivalled. A number of 

 Teal, collecting at night, or in a happy humour by day, chatter 

 and whistle loudly ; they sometimes then sound like a stand of 

 Golden Plover. The whistle of the male is low and shrill, the 

 call of the female is a subdued imitation of the Wild Duck. Its 

 flight is very rapid, and Harting says * that, on being disturbed 

 at a brook which has plenty of cover along the banks, it will, 

 after flying a short distance, drop down suddenly again, like 

 Snipe and Woodcock. The specific name, crecca, is undoubtedly 

 derived from its note, as is Crick-ente of Germany, and Krick- 

 And of Norway, where it breeds in the upper fjall morasses, as 

 well as in the lower marshes. In France it is Sarcelle d'hiver ; 

 in Portugal it shares the same name as the Garganey ; but in 

 Spain it is Patito and Cerceta. 



192. WIDGEON (Anas penelope). 



As common as the last. The enormous numbers of this species 

 obtained by the fenmen and gunners on the east coast of England 

 by means of a duck boat and swivel gun surpass conception, and 

 the heap of slain must be seen to be believed. I have many 

 times turned over half a sackful which my friend the Norfolk 

 fowler obtained by a successful shot from the big gun ; and a 

 large proportion of the ducks taken in decoys were of this species. 

 Colonel Hawker said that for coast night shooting the Widgeon is 

 like the fox for hunting : it shows the finest sport of anything in 

 Great Britain. As it only fetches half the price of a Mallard or 

 Brent Goose, it is known to the fenners as ' a half-bird/ It is 

 pre-eminently a river duck, resting and sleeping on the water, 

 but, when the tide permits, resorting in large bodies to the 

 Zostera beds on the mud flats.f Harting says : ' I have observed 



c ' Birds of Middlesex,' p. 230. 



t ' Birds of the Humber District,' p. 167. 



