A. Penelope, Lin Sce. Wigeon, Prov. Whim, Wheaver, Dandle Whew, or Yellow Pole. Tail somewhat pointed ; vent feathers black ; head bay ; front white; back waved with cinereous. The male, like the pintail and shoveler, makes a double moult in the course of a few months. In Italy he loses the varied colours, and becomes dark fer ruginous on the back, scapulars, and sides, but not so like the female as the male pintail. Wigeons inhabit the north of Europe and Asia, and migrate, in winter, as far south as Sardinia and Egypt ; appearing in the latter country in November, after the inundation of the Nile. They travel and swim in hands, live on frogs, worms, small fish, insects, and water plants ; and, when they fly during the night, they frequently utter a shrill piping whistle, which is a real note, proceeding from their mouth, and not, as alleged by Dampier and Salerne, produced by the flapping of their wings. They seem to be regardless of cold and stormy weather, are lively and pugnacious, and capable of being reared in confinement, when they will occasionally mingle with the pintail. and give rise to a hybrid offspring. Some of the species breed in Holland, France, Ste. the female constructing a sort of floating nest among the reeds of marshes, lakes, Ste. and laying from eight to ten eggs, of a dirty greenish-grey. They seem to be the most plentiful of the duck tribe that are taken in the decoys of Somerset and Devonshire. Their flesh is much esteemed ; and the London markets are regularly supplied with it throughout winter, and the early part of spring.
clypeata, Lin. 'Ste. Shoveler, Shoveler Duck, or Blue-winged Shoveler, Prov. Broad-bill or Kerlutock. Bill black, very broad, rounded like a spoon at the tip, with the nail hooked inwards. This species inhabits Europe, Asia, and North America, affecting lakes, marshes, and the banks of rivers. With us it is a scarce bird; and, notwithstand ing the opposite assertions of some authors, it is not for certain known to breed in the island ; but it is plentiful in Holland, and some parts of France, arriving in the latter country in Fehrnary ; and most of them seem to move far ther south in March ; the few which remain to breed not departing till September. The female makes her nest, lined with withered grasses, in the midst of the largest tufts of rushes, or coarse herbage, and in the least acces sible parts of the slaky marsh, laying from ten to fourteen pale rusty-coloured eggs. As soon as the young are hatch ed, they are conducted to the water by the parent birds, who watch and guard them with the greatest care. They are at first very the bill being then almost as broad as the body ; nor does their plumage acquire its complete colouring till after the second moulting. The flesh is red, juicy, delicate, and tender ; but the attempts to rear the species in the poultry-yard have hitherto failed of success. The quantities of shovelers with which the
Parisian markets are supplied in the season are procured front the marshes which extend from the neighbourhood of Soissons to the sea.
A. querquedula, Lin. &e. Garganey, Prov. Cricket Teal. A white band on the sides of the head ; small wing spot cinereous green. This species inhabits Europe and Asia, chiefly frequenting fresh waters and marshes; but it is also sometimes seen at sea, especially in stormy weather. It is of rare occurrence in England, but not uncommon in France, where it arrives early in March, and soon after pairs. The female tramples a small space of soil, about four or five inches in diameter, among tufts of rushes, and strews it with withered grasses, on which she deposits from ten to fourteen eggs, of a greenish-fawn hue. The incu bation lasts about twenty four days; and the parents con duct the young to the water almost as soon as hatched. The cry of the garganey somewhat resembles that of the land-rail. It is said to be impatient of cold. Of all sorts of grain, it prefers millet, but soaks it in water previously to swallowing it; so that it might possibly, as in ancient times, be rendered domestic without much trouble.
A. crecca, Lin. &c. Teal, or Common Teal. A broad glossy green band on the sides of the head ; the large wing-spot half dark-green and half deep-black. Length fourteen inches and a half ; stretch of wing one foot ten inches ; weight about twelve ounces. Inhabits Europe, Asia, and America, and migrates from its northern stations to Britain, Holland, France, &c. Some are said to breed in the morasses in the neighbourhood of Carlisle, and in Scotland, but many more in the marshes, and on the banks of lakes, in France. Their call, which is a sort of piping or whistling note, is heard in March. In April, the female lays from seven to ten or twelve eggs, about the size of those of a pigeon, and of a dirty-white ground, marked with small hazel spots. The nest is large, and skilfully composed of soft dried grasses, liped with feathers, and concealed in a hole, among the roots of reeds and bulrushes, on the edge of the water, being so adjusted, it is alleged, as to rise or fall with the stream. The female alone incu bates and rears her young, during which period the males unite, in small flocks, and do not rejoin their families till autumn.' The flesh of this species was much prized by the Roman epicures, and is still in much request for the table. By putting some of the eggs under a hen, and clip ping the wings of the brood, to prevent their flying off, it is presumed that they might be domesticated, as they seem to have been by the ancients.