ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM MAtO AND SLlOO. 13 1 



got to Bartragh I saw them more numerous than in any 

 year since 1880 — 81, and as tame as when starved by the hard 

 frost of that season. I never saw them so tame so early in the 

 season before frosts, and can only account for it by their being 

 so knocked about by the heavy gale of the two or three previous 

 days, or by there being so many young birds in the flock, and 

 yet there were quite sufficient old birds to give the alarm if they 

 thought of danger from the punt. 



On reaching the Point of Bartragh where I got a good view 

 of the birds, I saw between 300 and 400 Wigeon scattered 

 feeding along the shore by the Sloke Kock, and extending fully 

 400 yards along the edge of the water, but not crowded together 

 anywhere so as to offer a tempting shot ; so taking the bunch 

 nearest me I fired, knocking over five out of seven birds ; 

 the entire flock then rose at the report of the gun, and to my 

 great surprise, pitched again on the water a few hundred yards 

 lower down, swimming in to the bank, many walking upon it 

 while I was loading. Having loaded as quickly as possible, I 

 threw a few bunches of seaweed on the punt, and paddled down 

 quietly close along shore, passing many scattered birds at fifteen 

 and twenty yards distance without alarming them, until I got 

 near the main flock, which had separated into two companies, 

 the nearest on the bank consisting of thirty or forty birds, and 

 the far one of nearly 200 also on the bank, while a great many 

 birds were in the water near them. On approaching almost 

 within shot I found that, owing to the scattered birds in the 

 water, it was impossible for me to get within range of the 

 big flock without alarming the swimming birds between ; so 

 after some hesitation, not liking to risk my chance of a shot by 

 pushing on to the big flock, I decided on taking the small one, 

 and firing when I got within sixty or seventy yards, I knocked 

 down twenty birds, picking up nineteen, one cripple getting 

 off amongst the weed-covered stones where I was unable to find 

 him. 



Most of those obtained were birds of the year, very small ill- 

 thriven birds (some scarcely larger than Teal), and appearing as 

 if want of food when young had checked their growth ; indeed, I 

 never saw such small Wigeon before except in 1880 — 1, when a 

 great number of those I shot were of similar small size. 



Notwithstanding that these two shots were fired within such a 



