Smew 
apparently natural surroundings, our greatest success remained with a female that lived a year (having in 
the meantime completely moulted out) and an adult pair which succumbed to the moult at the end of six 
months. However, as they are most interesting and charming birds to keep for the benefit of anyone 
wishing to try them, I give some particulars below. After being fed on to artificial food in a pool aviary, 
our Smews were pinioned and kept with the other waterfowl. They were fed three times per day, and 
two-thirds of their diet consisted of fish, haddock, herring, or whiting, the remaining meals between 
times being pieces of liver or rabbit's flesh. They are greedy feeders, and readily learn to come swimming 
up, their eyes beneath the surface searching for food. Curiously enough, however, like many other birds, 
although we made it a rule to keep them as much as possible to fish, they soon preferred the animal food, 
and at the end of a few weeks developed a taste for the prepared barley meal, and were only prevented 
from filling themselves upon that fare by feeding them before the other species. Another curious feature 
in the history of these birds was that they became so wedded to artificial food that they never troubled 
to catch the numerous small live roach, dace, &c., that were for the greater part of the summer within 
their reach. From what I observed of the Smews' habits generally it may be described as an exceedingly 
quick and energetic species. Upon land it walks, runs, and even perches with ease and confidence, 
while in the water its diving powers appear to exceed those of any other duck. In the air also I should 
imagine it to be equally clever, as I noticed full-winged examples living in a pool aviary spring lightly 
and noiselessly from the water without any of the bustle and commotion that one is accustomed to 
associate with the rising of the true ducks. Concerning the moulting of this species I may state that the 
female referred to as living a year, which by the by was a bird received almost direct from the catchers the 
previous autumn, and during the whole time we possessed it and until shortly before its death it appeared 
in excellent health and condition, and completed its moult by simultaneously shedding its larger wing 
feathers on July 30 ; and that the particular adult male also referred to died on June i after having begun to 
change into the eclipse plumage by assuming a small brown patch behind each eye. As to their voice, I 
fail to recollect sufficiently to describe the subdued call of the male, but the female certainly occasionally 
emits a weak quacking sound." 
