8 PINTAIL DUCK.
denizen of our firths fM dragged to the nearest sand-hank, and at length, after considerable labour, stowed
away under the stern-deck of the punt. On my nay back, another duck and drake Pintail came in view, and
while sculling up for a shot, the sound of cracking timbers caught my car, and on looking round I discovered
that the supposed defunct seal shuwod signs of life, and having raised his head anil shoulders, the after-deck
was much strained and almost wrenched from its fastenings. Well aware that uo time could be lost,
I picked up a small breech-loading rille, and a bullet through the head at once restored quiet ; luckily the
water was not above two fort in depth, and the sands were soon reached in safely without further mishap.
This seal proved to be exceedingly heavy, and yielded, when the blubber was cut oil' and boiled down, just over
three gallons of oil •
A party of Pintail drakes when feeding on I rush-grown pool, with their heads straight down under water
and their long pointed tails elevated in the air, present a most lingular appearance. I have frequently watched
numbers engaged in this manner on a small muddy loch near Fenrn, in Ross-shire, that was almost overstocked
with celsf.
Though usually consorting with Wigcou, this species at times joins in company with Mallard. I find in
my notes under date of November I, 1871, while shooting on llickliug Broad, iu the east of Norfolk, that, after
having placed out several of our Moating dummies J, a small party of about n dozen fowl wheeled round
and pitched near at hand, allowing the punt to scull up within range before they rose on wing; on collecting
the five that fell dead to the shol, they proved to be four Wild Ducks and a Pintail Duck. Though usually
Watchful, I have on two or three occasions remarked that this species appeared entirely oil their guard. While
sculling up to a mixed Hock of Wigeon and Pochard, on llickliug Broad, on the 5lh of March, 1B73, I passed
within ten yards of a couple of pairs of Pintails—ducks and drakes both keeping their beaks covered in the
plumage of their backs, and making nut the slightest attempt to rise, or even to paddle further out of our
• A refcrenco I* Um n*h shot in this firth, and the i
t In (Ilia dittricl, as «eil as in many other psru of the Uigldands, the
,nsed of, will be Iiinml on page :
cijUently this csecllent fish remains free from persecution, and increases m sire, and number.. At this small piece of water (known in Gaelic
bv some unpronounceable nemo sigMhing the " muddy Uefc ") the eel., at the time of my visit in the spring of ISfiO, wore ponitively swarming in
the shallows ; and while wading through the soft mud and reed., from one bunk or point to another, .evertd, apparently from five or nix pounds in
weight, or possibly even considerably heavier, would be driven from the shelter into which they had made their way. After cruising a great
commotion beneath the surface nud among the weeds, they wnuld eventually disappear in the depths of these,
sonienhat singular that the fowl attracted by these dummies did tot take the slighter.! notice ol their colouring. The men who oonstnlrtcd them
were by no means artistic, and I had intended to giro a few finishing touches before they were malo use of; il was, however, soon discovered that
this addition wu perfectly unnecessary. In order to keep our decoys upright when afloat, a leaden weight was fixed under the belly, and .
ring .erewed iuto the breast to hold the anchor-line for mooring and to enable the wooden bird, to ride bead to wind. The decoction is then
OA It OA NEY.
QUERQTIEDULA CIRCIA.
Tnoccn bis colouring is unpretending, there arc few, if any, of our Wildfowl more beautifully marked than
the drake Garganey. This species appears to have been seen and also obtained in several English counties,
and on a few occasions ia Scotland and the outlying islands; I have, however, only met with it in the
Broad district iu Norfolk. These handsome little birds are still numerous in that part of the country,
arriving early in the spring, faking up their quarters and rearing their young iu the neighbourhood of the
largest piece of water, and making a move to a more suitable climate before cold weather sets iu. On two or
three occasions I heard of Garganeys shot iu winter, but in every instance where the strangers underwent
examination by competent judges they proved to be female Wigeon.
My own experience with regard to the situation chosen by Ibis species for its nest differs considerably from
the statement iu the last edition of Yarrell, that " in the Broad district in Norfolk, the densest reed-beds aro
preferred." About llickliug Broad, whrrc I have bad ample opportunities of observing them during thu
summer, I remarked that the eggs were usually laid in the patches of rushes in the unreclaimed marshes,
at some little distance from the water, not a single nest having, to the best of my knowledge, ever been
delected in a reed-bed. Now and then the birds were known to have bred among the long coarse grass
and tufts of rushes on the dryer portion of the hills surrounding the broads, but, as a rule, they go furl her
from their usual hauufs.
While slaying at Potter Ileigham, in the east of Norfolk, iu the summer of 1888, I was sent for early on
the morning of the lGth or June, by one of the natives of the village, who had beea ou his way to market and
surprised a brood of wild Bucks iu a ditch by the roadside. The weather at the time was rough and stormy,
with rain falling in blinding torrents, and on reaching the spot, which luckily was only about a quarter of a
mile from the farmhouse at which I was staying, a female (iargancy was seen, standing with her neck stretched
onf, m the middle of the road. Two or three times she ran towards the ditch, which was deep and overgrown
with brambles and wild plants, and then withdrew slowly to her former stalion. On searching the cover, eight
young ducklings were soon found, and placed in a basket wrapped up ia llauuel, the poor little miles being wet
and weakened by exposure to the rain and the damp grass through which they had been led. As the old bird,
after Hying round in circles over the adjoining fields, still continued to return to the road when we had left the
spot, to take the young to the house in order that they might have better attention, I returned again and took
up a position to watch her movements. Her actions soon led us to believe that some of the brood were still at
large, and ou again turning over the ferns and rubbish in the ditch, two more downy youngsters were secured,
a hundred yards or so nearer to the farm than those previously obtained. It was not, however, for two or three
hours that the poor old duck deserted the spot, returning again and again, after Hying round, ami alighting
either in the fields or ou the road near the ditch; she appeared much distressed by the loss and perfectly
regardless of danger ou her own accouul, seldom attempting to rise on wing till approached within four or live