22 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII. 



the drake's green head is soon seen to rise up above 

 the rest, as his watchfulness is seldom long deceived ; 

 with low quacking he warns his mate, and the two 

 then rise, giving an alarm to the widgeon. The 

 latter, after one or two rapid wheels in the air, re- 

 turn to their feeding-ground, but the mallards fly 

 off to a considerable distance before they stop. 'Tis 

 as well to make the widgeon pay tribute, so creeping 

 to the nearest part of the bank I wait till a flock 

 has approached within shot and in close rank, and 

 giving them both barrels four or five drop. If any 

 are winged my dog has a tolerably hard chace ; for 

 no bird dives more quickly than the widgeon : and 

 they invariably make directly for the deep water, 

 taking long dives, and only showing the top of their 

 head when they are obliged to come up to breathe. 

 Both male and female have the same sober plumage 

 at this season ; nor are the drakes in full beauty 

 till January. I shot a brace of widgeon on the 8th 

 of September this year, which is a month before 

 their usual time of arrival. A flock of eight passed 

 over my head, nearly a quarter of a mile from the 

 sea, and I killed two of them — one apparently a 

 young, and the other an old bird. I am inclined to 

 think that they had been hatched in this part of the 

 country. Although they leave us regularly in the 

 spring, I have been told by an old poacher that he 



