Pochard. 487 



inland during winter, yet the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., 

 sent him word that his keeper had shot a Scoter on the orna- 

 mental water in the park at Stourhead, Wiltshire, which is more 

 than twenty miles from the sea in a straight line, and no such 

 bird had been seen there before. In truth, it is a thoroughly 

 oceanic bird a true Jack tar which seldom comes ashore, and 

 there cuts but a sorry figure, but which is quite at home in the 

 heaviest surf, and swims and dives with equal facility. 



196. POCHARD (Fuligula ferina). 



This species, known also as the Dun Bird, visits our shores in 

 winter in immense numbers, and penetrates inland wherever 

 retired lakes and quiet rivers offer it a suitable asylum : for it is 

 a very shy bird, and generally avoids the proximity of man. In 

 contrast to its usual habits of timidity, and in proof of the con- 

 fidence which even the wilder birds soon learn to entertain when 

 unmolested, I have seen the Pochards arrive on the lake at 

 Walton Hall (where I was on a visit to my revered friend, Mr. 

 Waterton) and fearlessly swim in flocks before the windows, where 

 we could watch their motions at leisure, while they seemed wholly 

 unconcerned at our presence. The Pochard bears a close re- 

 semblance in colour and general appearance to the famous Canvas- 

 backed Duck of America, and is said to be little inferior to that 

 bird in delicacy; consequently it is much sought after by the fowler 

 and taken in vast numbers. The specific name, ferina, ( belong- 

 ing toferce, wild animals/ is said to have reference to its 'game* 

 flavour ; for the same reason it is known in Germany as Tafel- 

 ente, the ' Table Duck.' In France it is Canard Milouin ; in 

 Sweden, Rod-halsad Dyk-And, 'Red-necked Diving Duck'; in 

 Spain, Cabezon, ' Large-head ' ; in Portugal, Tarrantana. The 

 generic name, fuligula, seems to be a diminutive of fulica, though 

 what the Red-headed Pochard has to do with the Bald Coot I am 

 at a loss to conjecture. A bird so common as it is on all our coasts 

 and on the eastern coast it is especially abundant is sure to 

 have many provincial names, and amongst them the ' Red-headed 

 Widgeon' and the ' Red-headed Poker ' are, in addition to those given 



