Birds. 6923 



From the above list it will be seen that a male wigeon, and in all probability the pair 

 of hybrid wigeons, remained in town during the summer. Several years ago, when 

 rude huts or platforms were erected in the Round Pond, Kensington Gardens, for the 

 water-fowl, a male wigeon with perfect wings frequented the pond for two, if not more, 

 years. One year he paired with a duck, somewhat darker in colour than a common 

 wild duck ; and I saw three of his progeny when about one-third grown. About the 

 same time a pair of waterhens frequented the pond, breeding every year in one of the 

 above-mentioned huts. The latter birds seem to me to be far less numerous in the 

 London waters than they used to be. The boats have driven them entirely from the 

 upper end of the Serpentine. I once counted seventeen waterhens feeding together 

 near the inner circle in the Eegent's Park. Previous to the introduction of the boats 

 a small party of tufted ducks (nine birds, I believe) used to frequent the Serpentine, 

 flying to and fro between that water and the canal in St. James's Park. I have fre- 

 quently seen tufted ducks on the wing, long after migrating time, on both the 

 above waters, but not of late years ; and I never saw any young birds. It seems sin- 

 gular that a migratory bird, with full powers of flight, should remain during the sum- 

 mer in a place where it has no facilities for breeding. The conclusion 1 draw from 

 the above and other facts is, that the wigeon and tufted duck might easily be semi- 

 domesticated in places adapted to their habits; that they might be made quite as 

 gentle as that familiar but most independent bird, the waterhen ; and that the epithet 

 " tame " is far more applicable to them than to the mute swan, which, as far as I can 

 learn, will never stay at home unless he is crippled. Can any of your correspondents 

 give a well-authenticated instance of young mute swans, with their powers of flight 

 unimpaired, and at liberty, remaining in this country after the migrating period ? — Id. 



' The Wild-fowler.' — Mr. Folkard, in the above work, after describing the 

 shoveller as a " diving'' duck (p. 259), proceeds as follows : — " None of the species of 

 shoveller can be recommended for culinary purposes." Now, as is well known to 

 ornithologists, the shoveller is a surface-feeding, and not a diving or " oceanic" duck, 

 and so far from being unfit for the table it is one of the best, if not the very best, of 

 the edible ducks. Audubon, as quoted by Yarrell, rates it above the far-famed can- 

 vas duck. Colonel Hawker testifies to its excellence, and I think myself that it is 

 superior to the pintail, excellent as that bird is. According to Yarrell there is but one 

 species of shoveller known in England. Mr. Folkard's shoveller cannot therefore be 

 the true bluewinged shoveller known to ornithologists, the Anas clypeata of Pennant 

 and Montagu, and the A. rhynchaspis of Gould, but some other bird. Mr. Folkard 

 does not mention the goldeneye or tufted duck, both well known on our coasts, and 

 the latter one of the commonest of our wild-fowl. Can it be that on the Essex coast, 

 where Mr. Folkard's shooting operations seem to have been chiefly carried on, these 

 birds are called " shovellers" ? A literary and " learned " sporstman ought not to be 

 misled by provincial names, often absurdly incorrect. However the mistake arose, 

 the author ought to correct it in his next edition, if he expects his book to supersede 

 Colonel Hawker's. However much behind the modern march of intellect the Colonel 

 may be in his shooting instructions, his ornithology may be depended upon. — Id. 



Wild Stvans on the Coast of China. — 1 had often heard talk of the swans seen and 

 shot on theFoo-chow river Min, which some sportsman assured me were of two kinds, 

 the white and the black. The black I of course attributed to a little imaginary 

 colouring on the part of my informants, gray being implied, and the birds alluded to 

 being in all probability the yearlings of the white kind. Some have also assured me 



