﻿30?. 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  race 
  of 
  Wigeon 
  being 
  unduly 
  diminished, 
  either 
  here 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  

   Durham 
  and 
  Northumbrian 
  coasts. 
  

  

  In 
  contrast 
  to 
  the 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  Wigeon 
  observed 
  this 
  

   winter, 
  Pintails 
  were 
  not 
  nearly 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  last 
  season, 
  

   when 
  flocks 
  of 
  one 
  hundred 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  birds 
  were 
  

   to 
  be 
  met 
  with 
  ; 
  while 
  this 
  winter 
  forty 
  to 
  fifty 
  might 
  be 
  the 
  

   average 
  number 
  seen 
  in 
  their 
  usual 
  haunts 
  about 
  the 
  estuary. 
  

   Pintails 
  are 
  very 
  partial 
  to 
  feeding 
  wherever 
  fresh 
  water 
  runs 
  

   down 
  from 
  the 
  land, 
  and 
  on 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  sands 
  near 
  one 
  of 
  my 
  

   fields 
  a 
  small 
  flock 
  of 
  these 
  ducks 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  almost 
  daily 
  

   throughout 
  the 
  winter 
  and 
  spring, 
  feeding 
  where 
  a 
  little 
  stream, 
  

   after 
  leaving 
  the 
  shore, 
  spreads 
  out 
  on 
  the 
  sands. 
  Pintails 
  

   sometimes 
  remain 
  late 
  into 
  spring 
  ; 
  last 
  season 
  I 
  observed 
  them 
  

   on 
  the 
  sands 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  23rd 
  of 
  April, 
  while 
  this 
  spring 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  

   see 
  them 
  after 
  the 
  25th. 
  They 
  become 
  very 
  much 
  tamer 
  as 
  the 
  

   spring 
  season 
  advances, 
  much 
  more 
  so 
  than 
  Wigeon, 
  and 
  will 
  

   allow 
  me 
  to 
  walk 
  up 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  or 
  two 
  hundred 
  

   yards 
  from 
  where 
  they 
  rest 
  on 
  the 
  sands, 
  while 
  Wigeon 
  would 
  

   not 
  let 
  me 
  approach 
  within 
  twice 
  that 
  distance. 
  This 
  tameness 
  

   is 
  the 
  more 
  remarkable, 
  because 
  during 
  the 
  shooting 
  season 
  they 
  

   are 
  far 
  wilder 
  than 
  Wigeon, 
  and 
  take 
  alarm 
  at 
  the 
  approach 
  of 
  a 
  

   shooting-punt, 
  rising 
  long 
  before 
  Wigeon 
  think 
  of 
  moving 
  off. 
  

   It 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  estimate 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  Wild 
  Ducks 
  in 
  this 
  

   district, 
  because 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  leave 
  their 
  inland 
  feeding-grounds 
  

   for 
  the 
  sea- 
  side 
  unless 
  driven 
  down 
  by 
  severe 
  frosts, 
  and 
  nothing 
  

   less 
  than 
  eight 
  or 
  ten 
  degrees 
  of 
  frost 
  will 
  cause 
  their 
  appear- 
  

   ance 
  in 
  any 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  estuary. 
  

  

  They 
  are 
  extremely 
  sensitive 
  to 
  changes 
  of 
  temperature, 
  and 
  

   on 
  the 
  slightest 
  sign 
  of 
  a 
  thaw 
  after 
  frost 
  they 
  all 
  disappear 
  

   that 
  night 
  from 
  the 
  estuary, 
  returning 
  to 
  their 
  inland 
  haunts 
  in 
  

   bog 
  and 
  lake 
  before 
  morning. 
  The 
  greatest 
  number 
  of 
  Wild 
  

   Ducks 
  that 
  I 
  ever 
  saw 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  of 
  1880-81, 
  when 
  they 
  

   appeared 
  to 
  be 
  almost 
  as 
  numerous 
  as 
  Wigeon, 
  but 
  then 
  they 
  

   were 
  frozen 
  out 
  of 
  all 
  their 
  inland 
  haunts. 
  

  

  The 
  three 
  species 
  of 
  waders 
  — 
  Green 
  Plover, 
  Curlew, 
  and 
  

   Golden 
  Plover 
  — 
  have 
  also 
  increased 
  very 
  much, 
  the 
  two 
  former 
  

   enormously 
  so 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  reason 
  for 
  this 
  great 
  increase 
  in 
  their 
  

   numbers 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  explain, 
  though 
  I 
  may 
  suggest 
  

   that 
  the 
  great 
  decrease 
  of 
  tillage 
  farming, 
  resulting 
  in 
  a 
  vast 
  

  

  