WIDGEON 
181 
feeding grounds with Brent Geese they occasionally take advantage of the food 
pulled up by these (Millais, 1902), just as the American Widgeon is somewhat 
parasitic, or at least symbiotic toward certain diving ducks. 
Voice. The voice of the Widgeon is very characteristic and more like that of the 
Teal and Pintail than that of the Mallard. They rise silently, but in the air the 
males are continually uttering a double whistling note, which at a distance is really 
melodious, while the females less commonly join in with their low purring sound. 
More specifically the note of the male may be described as a bisyllabic call, whee-yu, 
the first syllable of which is sharper and more whistling. Close at hand the sound is 
monotonous, rather harsh and grating, and entirely immusical, but coming down 
out of the air from a hundred throats it is one of the sounds most dear to the ears of 
a sportsman. 
The female’s call may be spoken of as a greatly modified quack, a low croaking 
note almost impossible to describe, but frequently written krrr or chrrr or even pur- 
pur-pur. The note of attraction, Heinroth (1911) thought, was shorter than the more 
protracted and repeated scolding call, and the alarm-call is different still. He also 
describes the pair calling simultaneously so as to produce a unified note. This 
habit has led many writers to attribute both calls to the male sex. 
One is tempted to quote here a few words from Colonel Hawker’s famous book of 
advice to sportsmen : “ The thicker the weather, the more silent the Wigeon when 
pitched. A shrill, clear pipe denotes a single cock-Wigeon, as does a long loud ‘purre’ 
a hen; but when the call of the cock is one short, soft note and not so often repeated, 
you may expect to find a company. If so you will probably soon hear the birds ‘all 
in a charm’ [that is in full concert] if you have the patience to wait and listen.” 
The lower part of the trachea of the female is simple, but in the male there is a 
transverse oblong, bony dilatation bulging out on the left into a spheroidal box 
about an inch in greatest diameter. 
Food. Wfidgeon are strictly surface-feeders and grazers, and prefer shallow 
water where they do not have to tip, or fairly deep water with pond-weeds floating 
on the surface. But they will also feed “end-up” like a Mallard and like geese are 
exceedingly fond of grazing on tender grass. Though predominantly vegetarian, 
some in Scotland and elsewhere have been known to live in winter almost entirely 
on small cockles (Millais, 1902). In all western Europe their chief reliance in winter 
is eel-grass (Zostera marina) though they doubtless supplement this, where possible, 
with fresh-water grasses. More unusual marine food is the sea-lettuce {Enteromorpha 
clathrata) which they were noticed eating in Belfast Bay (Thompson, 1851). 
In Germany the food in autumn, in the interior, is chiefly the seeds of the float- 
ing manna-grass {Glyceria fluitans), various potamogetons, duck-weed (Lemna), 
