THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
ducks — ^whereas in the golden-eyes it is confined to the secondaries. Both 
species have short necks and noticeably bulky heads; but even in this 
latter feature there is a difference, that of the golden-eye being bushy, 
vs^hile the scaup’s head is hard in outline, the high crown showing like 
a boss, and, as just said, three -fourths of them display a white front, 
which the golden-eyes never have. 
Tufted ducks afloat look as black and white as guillemots, and the 
drakes show far more white above water-line than any other of the duck 
tribe. Their beaks also are of that pale waxy blue that, in sunlight, 
gleams white as ivory. The young of these (but not the adult females) 
are also white -fronted, and both are far less conspicuously coloured than 
the old drakes — plain dark brown. 
So far as colour goes, an old pochard -drake resembles a mallard, 
being dark fore and aft, silvery -grey amidships. But the thickset, squat 
outline will serve to distinguish him even when on grey days or in certain 
lights the red head cannot be seen. A single glint of sunshine, however, 
will reveal that feature to beyond 200 yards. Note that it is chiefly by the 
adult drakes that the identity of a company of ducks can be ascertained 
at a distance. Pochards may, nevertheless, be distinguished, even in the 
dullest of lights, by a marked difference in their profile — ^the long rising 
slope of the forehead giving their heads the form, as it were, of an 
isosceles triangle. 
Before leaving the pochards, two other species of that sub-genus claim 
a passing note, since they are technically “British ” — to wit: the Red- 
crested, and White -eyed pochards. Being intimately acquainted with the 
latter (and fairly so with the former species), in Spain, I am entitled 
to hold the personal opinion that neither has any rational claim to be 
considered British — certainly not the white -eyed pochard, or “ ferruginous 
duck,” as it is also named. Consider its geographical status. Even in 
southern Spain it is merely a summer -visitor, coming in thousands to 
breed, but departing in autumn to Africa. Only in the wettest winters 
(and then exceptionally) do a few linger in Andalucia. Yet we are asked 
to believe that it has occurred here in England, in some dozens of instances 
in mid-winter. So no doubt it has, but not of its own free will. Until very 
solid proof be forthcoming, I regard all such instances as merely 
“ escapes,” that is, quasi-domestic birds frozen out of private ponds 
and ornamental waters. 
The White -eyed pochard shows up extremely dark in colour, whether 
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