AUG. WILD FOWL. 281 



which grows in these places, and also of some of 

 the wild fruits, such as blackberries, &c. Indeed I 

 fancy that a wild duck is about as omnivorous a 

 creature as can be found, almost as much so as the 

 man who eats him : nothing which he can swallow 

 comes amiss to him, whether fish, flesh, or grain. 

 The teal, on the contrary, appears to be almost 

 wholly insectivorous : at least these birds feed only 

 in the swamps and shallow pools, never taking to 

 the fields for grain or seeds ; but living entirely on 

 aquatic insects and some few small plants. 



Although the widgeon breed in Sutherlandshire, 

 and perhaps in other parts of Scotland, I never saw 

 one in this part of the country during July or 

 August. I believe that this bird feeds neither on 

 grain nor insects, but on aquatic grasses ; and when 

 these are not to be had, he grazes readily on the 

 grass-fields, and banks near the sea. 



The great art in getting at most wild fowl is to 

 discover their feeding-places ; for to these they 

 always resort at certain times either of the day or 

 of the tide, some kinds being more dependent than 

 others on the ebb and flow of the sea ; whilst the 

 common mallard is almost wholly nocturnal in his 

 feeding, and does not regulate his movements by 

 the state of the tide. 



The sheldrakes, who were so numerous a few 



