WILD FOWL 
male but browner. Iris brown; bill greyish -black; legs and toes as in 
the male. Total length about 16 inches; bill 1*1 inch; wing 7*0 inches; 
tail 2*7 inches; tarsus 1*2 inch. 
General distribution . — ^The smew inhabits the northern portions of Europe 
and Asia. Its breeding-range extends from Finnish Lapland and the 
northern portion of the Baltic across Northern Russia to the Ural 
Mountains, and thence eastwards across Siberia to Bering Sea up to the 
limit of the forest -growth. In winter it is occasionally met with on the 
coast of Norway, and extends along the Atlantic coast of Europe south- 
wards to Morocco; it also visits the Swiss Lakes, Mediterranean, Black 
and Caspian Seas, Northern India, China, Japan and the Commander 
Islands. It has occurred accidentally in the northern part of North 
America. 
Distribution in the British Isles . — To the British Isles it is a winter - 
visitor, and while in the Shetlands and Outer Hebrides it is scarce, it is 
not uncommon in the Orkney Islands and along the east coast of Great 
Britain; less numerous on the south, and scarce on the west, except on 
some of the Inner Hebrides. To Ireland it appears to be a regular annual 
visitor, but is always somewhat rare. The birds seen in this country are 
generally females and immature, the adult males being seldom met with 
near the shore except in severe weather. 
Nests and eggs . — Very little is known about the breeding -habits of the 
smew, but, like its allies, it places its eggs in holes in hollow trees with 
a lining of white down. The eggs, from six to nine in number, are of a 
pale cream-colour, and measure about 2*0 by 1 *45 inches. The eggs are 
laid in June. 
The food consists of fish and small crustaceans, which the bird obtains 
by diving. 
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