188 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CII. XIII. 



widgeon in the evening, as they leave the deeper 

 parts of the lake for the grassy margin, is very 

 amusing. When they first rise, and before we can 

 see them, we hear their peculiar whistle ; and they 

 almost immediately appear flying in small companies 

 with great swiftness to their destination. This 

 whistling sound, which they utter during their flight, 

 is quite different from their cry while swimming and 

 playing on the water. It requires a very quick 

 eye and a good retriever to bag many birds in this 

 twilight shooting ; but Captain Gumming, alone, 

 killed fourteen mallards and a widgeon one evening 

 while I was there. This was excellent work, consi- 

 dering that it was only for a short time during the 

 dusk that he could shoot, that they were all single 

 shots, and that every bird had to be retrieved out 

 of water overgrown with rushes, &c. The widgeon 

 have already begun to fly in pairs. 



In the middle of February the peewits begin to 

 appear here. The exact day depends chiefly on 

 the state of the weather : the first break up of the 

 snow and ice generally brings them. About the 

 same time I hear the coo of the wood-pigeons, who 

 now come near the house for protection. This they 

 do every year as the breeding season approaches. 



Three otters are frequenting the mouth of the 

 river, apparently fishing for the flounders left in 



