Smew - 1894

Mergus albellus

A winter visitor ; not uncommon.

In Mr. Mathias' list. Has been shot by Sir Hugh Owen, at Goodwick. Mr. Dix says : " A beautiful adult male in the Earl of Cawdor's collection, was shot on the lake at Stackpole Court. Immature birds are not infrequently seen In its pretty black and white pie plumage, and with its handsome crest, the Mallard Smew is another onspicuous species, that we have distinguished at a great distance on the water. It is one of the tree-building species like the Golden-eye and some other ducks, and its pure white eggs are still considered as rarities by oologists. It nests in Lapland and the north of Europe.

Mathew M.A. 1894, Birds of Pembrokeshire and it's Islands