$244 THE ZooLocist—OcrToser, 1872. 
and was most assiduous in his attentions, giving his mate imme- 
diate warning of the approach of anything like danger, flying and 
hissing at one in a most formidable way, by which means he 
established a most wholesome terror in all my children, who would 
otherwise, in all probability, have broken the eggs, in their eager- 
ness to see when the young were going to be hatched. The young 
birds were rather odd-looking little things, their heads looking too 
large for their necks: the top of the head and the back were very 
dark, almost black ; the neck and the rest of the upper parts pale 
olive-green, the under parts lighter; the legs and bill were very 
dark olive-green, almost black. By the 27th of June the young 
geese were much grown, but little change had taken place in their 
general appearance, except, perhaps, that the legs were scarcely so 
dark as at first. By the 8th of July the first feathers began to 
appear on the back, and by the 11th the quills were beginning to 
shoot; by this time, also, the legs first began to assume a pink 
tinge through the olive-green; the pink also began to make its 
appearance on the bill. Now, August the 7th, the young birds 
very nearly resemble their parents, both in size and colouring: 
the old birds, are, however, still very assiduous in their attention 
to their young ones, who, however, hardly seem to need their 
assistance, being perfectly able to take care of themselves. Their 
food from the very first has consisted of grass,—and nothing but 
grass,—the young very soon learning to crop the grass like their 
parents. 
A brood of eight young wigeon made their appearance on the 
27th of June. Unluckily I did not find the nest, so can say 
nothing about the time of incubation. The young birds, when 
they first made their appearance, were very like young wild ducks, 
but the light parts were a little more inclined to red. They fed 
entirely on grass, pond-weed, and any insects they could cateh,— 
for these they searched the banks by the side of the pond most 
eagerly. The original brood of eight are now reduced to two: 
these two survivors are now nearly full-feathered, but whether they 
are ducks or drakes it would be difficult to say; but J am rather 
inclined to think they are both drakes, as their plumage rather 
resembles the drakes, in their present peculiar state of summer 
plumage. 
Both the pochards and the wigeon were quite unlike the pink- 
footed geese, as to the attention paid by the male to the female 
