m 
THE WIGEON. 
superincumbent body of the bird. On this the female 
lays her eggs ; nor could she well procure a better 
or a softer substance for them. 
Trifling as an attention to the feathered tribe may 
seem, still it has its sweets for those who love to 
}ead a rural life. 1 generally observe that visiters 
who come here are always anxious to have a sight 
of the birds which take up their abode in this se- 
questered valley ; and they listen with evident signs 
of pleasure to the cries of the nocturnal wanderers 
of the air. It is not above a week ago that I heard 
the heron screaming, the wigeon whistling, the barn 
owl screeching, and the tawny owl hooting, in rapid 
succession. The moon was playing on the water at 
the time, and the air was nearly as warm as summer. 
I thought of times long past and gone, when I was 
enjoying nature's richest scenery in the interminable 
forests of Guiana. 
NOTES ON THE HABITS OF THE WIGEON. 
From the month of May to that of October, we 
know nothing of the haunts and economy of this 
cheerful and familiar stranger ; for he always takes ' 
his leave of us in spring ; at which time he is sup- 
posed to proceed to distant regions of the north, * 
where ornithologists have never yet dared to ven- 
ture* 
