OF BFRDS. 
237 
verse black and white lines, beautifully dispersed like 
waves; the quill-feathers are some of them brown, with 
white tips, others have their outward webs of a blackish 
purple; other parts, especially those beyond the covert 
feathers, of a lovely fine blue; some of the exterior fea- 
thers have their outward webs inclining to black, with a 
fine purple gloss, upon the borders of which there are a 
number of small light coloured spots; the rest of the 
wing feathers are of a beautiful party-coloured brown 
and white. The upper part of the tail is ash-coloured; 
the under part behind the vent, black. The legs and 
feet of a dark lead colour, and the claws black. 
Widgeons are common in Cambridgeshire, the isle of 
Ely, &c. where the male is called the widgeon, and the 
female the whewer. They feed upon wild periwinkles, 
grass, weeds, &c. which grow at the bottom of rivers 
and lakes. Their flesh has a very delicious taste, not 
inferior to teal, or wild ducks. 
Smew. ( Mergus Albellus. PL 40.) This bird mea- 
sures from the point of the bill to the end of the tail near 
eighteen inches, and from the extremity of each wing 
when extended, upwards of two feet, and weighs about 
a pound and a half. It has a fine crest upon the head, 
which falls down towards the back part of it, under which, 
on each side of the head, is a black spot: the rest of the 
head and neck are white, as is the under parts of the 
body; the back and the wings are of an agreeable mixture, 
of black and white. The tail is about three inches long, 
of a sort of dusky ash-colour, the feathers on each side 
shortening gradually. The bill is of a lead colour, at 
the extremity of which is a dirty coloured spot of white; 
it is somewhat less than the generality of the duck kind, 
a little hooked, with large open nostrils, and darkish co- 
loured eyes; the legs are pretty much of the same colour 
of the bill. 
The female of this bird has no crest; the sides of the 
head are red, the throat white, the wings of a dusky ash- 
colour; in other respects it agrees with the male. They 
feed on fish, but are very rarely seen in England, except 
