378 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



beating them rapidly just as it drops on the surface as if to break 

 the force of the contact. It also swims well, and is very adept at 

 diving when pursued if wounded. This species is also seen a 

 good deal on land, walking about the turfy banks of the water. 

 They are rather shy and wary birds, evidently gifted with great 

 powers of scent and hearing, and approached most successfully 

 up wind. The note of the Wigeon is very characteristic, and 

 not easily confused with that of any other British Duck. I describe 

 it as a wild and loud mee-ow or ivee-ow \ other writers as mee-yoo 

 or whcU-yoii. My experience is certainly different from that of 

 Naumann, who states that this species utters a cry like that of the 

 Shoveller as it rises. A note sounding like kr-r is said also to be 

 occasionally uttered. The food of this species consists of grass, 

 buds, leaves, and shoots of various aquatic plants, grass wrack, 

 insects, shrimps, and mollusks. The bird feeds by day in some 

 districts, by night in others, and both by night and day in localities 

 where it is much harassed. In India, Hume states that the Wigeon 

 is more of a grass-eater than any other Duck. The flesh of this 

 bird varies a great deal in quality, depending on the food which 

 has been lately eaten. British individuals are considered to be 

 more palatable than those shot in India. 



Nidification. — The principal breeding grounds of the Wigeon 

 are the wild districts, partly scrubby forest, partly swamp, studded 

 with lakes and pools and intersected with rivers and streams — the 

 border land, in fact, between the bare tundra and the hmit of the 

 growth of trees. The nests are made in May and June, according 

 to locality, and are usually well concealed near the waterside, 

 but sometimes a considerable distance from it, either among the 

 long coarse grass and other vegetation or beneath the shelter of a 

 bush. They are placed on the ground and made of dry grass and 

 dead aquatic vegetation, rather deep, and warmly lined with down 

 and a few feathers. The eggs are from six to ten or even, in rare 

 instances, twelve in number, and are creamy white in colour, 

 sometimes buffish white. They measure on an average 2 "2 inches 

 in length by i'5 inch in breadth. Down sooty brown with 

 distinct white tips. According to Naumann, incubation lasts 

 from twenty-four to twenty-five days. When leaving the nest 

 the female carefully covers the eggs with down. Only one 



