360 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



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. Hume states that in 

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

 bird varies a great deal in quality, according to 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 limit of the growth of trees. The nests are made in May 

 and June, according to locality, and are usually well concealed near the water- 

 side, 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, some- 

 times buf&sh-white. They measure on an average 2'2 inches in length by 1'5 

 inch in breadth, The down is 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. One brood only 

 is reared in the year, and the young are deserted as soon as they are able to fly. 



Diagnostic characters,— (Nuptial plumage) Mareca, with the upper 

 tail coverts grey, the under tail coverts black, the upper part of the head buff 

 (male) ; with the head chestnut spotted with black (female). Length, 18 to 20 

 inches. 



