THE GOOSANDER AND THE PIED SMEW 257 



I was interested in bird matters. He simply said 

 that a friend of his in the north had shot the curious 

 bird, stuffed it, and sent it south for him. Upon my 

 venturing to remark that the setting-up might have 

 been better done, I was told that the man who had 

 sent the bird was, to be sure, a home-spun stuffer ; 

 but there it was. 



The Smew is the smallest member of the family 

 to which it belongs, and it is also the least numerous 

 compared with its relatives. On the southern and 

 eastern coasts Smews are found at times in consider- 

 able numbers, which chiefly consist of the females or 

 young birds. The fuU-plumaged black-and-white 

 drake Smews are rarely to be procured, as they keep 

 well out at sea. 



This beautiful bird is extremely active both when 

 on the wing and when diving. It has various local 

 names, such as White Nun, Pied Diver, Vare 

 Wigeon, White Wigeon, and Weasel-headed Wigeon. 

 The last-mentioned title has been bestowed upon it 

 because the clean-cut, red-tinted heads of the females 

 and the immature birds, together with their bright 

 eyes and general perkiness, reminded some of the 

 shore-dwellers of the weasel. 



It is a well-known fact that, with the commoner 

 species of fowl, fuU-plumaged specimens are not 

 easy to get. As regards the bird under notice, it 

 is at times almost impossible to get one in full 

 plumage on the waters that surround our coast-lines. 

 Northern specimens can of course be procured 

 in adult breeding plumage without difficulty, but 



