MARECA PENELOPK. 159 



xinapproacliable, except by boat, and often not liv tliat. Tliev collect 

 in very large flocks, sometimes numbering as many as seven or eight 

 Imndred individuals, but more often will be found in flocks of a hundred 

 or so, and, of course, where they are less common in small flocks of a 

 dozen or less, often in pairs or singly, but in the latter case always with 

 some other duck. 



Of their voice, Hume writes : — " They are, on the whole, rather 

 loquacious birds, and both when feeding and at rest, when walking, 

 swimming, and flying, often utter a shrill ' whew,' a sort of whistle by 

 which you may know them at any distance; it is not a clear full whistle 

 like the Curlew's, but a whistle cry, rather discordant when heard by 

 day, but not without its charms when uttered by night by large numbers, 

 mingled with the call of many other species and mellowed l)y the distance 

 and the multitudinous voices of winds and water." 



They fly with a swift powerful flight, generally in line formation, the 

 line nearly always irregular and altering nmch in shape as the birds fly: 

 the two ends are generally thin, whilst towards the centre the birds are 

 more numerous. When flying from one jhil to another, or when put 

 up by shots, they do not, I think, take any particular formation. 



Meyer says : — The Wigeon fly in the usual manner of ducks, following- 

 one another; but these birds fly so very close upon the heels of their 

 leader, that it forms a distinguishing peculiarity.'' 



Hume notes the peculiar rustle made by the Wigeon in flvino- ; this 

 is very distinctive, and when close at hand sounds very different to the 

 swish of the Mallard or the sound of other ducks' flight. 



In England they are caught in large numbers by decoys, which induce 

 the wild birds to enter some small water-ways roofed in with wire nettino- 

 and which gradually lead to a large drop-net in which they are entanoled. 

 The placing of the pipes — as the leading tunnel-nets are called — is the 

 main feature of the trap, as these have to be so made that they are quite 

 inconspicuous, and the entrances must be natural ones. Sometimes a small 

 dog is trained to dodge about the pipes, continually showing itself hio-lier 

 up the pipe for an instant or two and attracting their curiosity, which is 

 a strong trait in all ducks. In Goldsmith's "Natural History/ a little 

 volume dated 1830, it is said that " In only ten decoys in the nei<j-li- 

 bourhood of Wainfleet, so many as thirty-one thousand two hundred have 

 been caught in a season." This, of course, refers to all kinds of ducks, 

 not to Wigeon s only. 



To eat, the Wigeon is sometimes tirst-rate, sometimes decidedly fishy 



