SOME NOTES ON THE TUFTED DUCK 153 



that he had any knowledge of the species ; and we have 

 apparently to pass on to Pennant's " Tour in Scotland " in 

 1769 and his "Sketch of Caledonian Zoology" (1778) for 

 the earliest cited English and Scottish localities respectively, 

 namely the East Fen, Lincoln, 1 and the Orkneys (see p. 148). 

 Many Scottish lakes including Loch Leven were visited 

 by Pennant during his ' Tours,' but no mention is made of 

 the Tufted Duck having been seen on any of them ; and it 

 is worthy of remark that though he includes the species in 

 his 'British Zoology' (first published in 1766), in no edition 

 of that work is any locality given for it. 



Not having access at the time to all the editions of the 

 above works, nor to a number of other publications which it 

 was desirable to consult, I sought Professor Newton's assist- 

 ance, and was favoured by him with the following letter, 

 which I am sure will be read with much interest by all who 

 appreciate the historical side of ornithology. It is dated 

 7th November 1895, and runs as follows : 



" I am much obliged to you for calling my attention to the history 

 of the Tufted Duck as a British bird, which I never before had 

 occasion to investigate ; and now that I come to look into the matter, 

 it is curious how little seems to have been known about the species 

 by various writers until, comparatively speaking, recent times. 



" First, to clear the ground and in reply to your direct questions, 

 I would say that I see nothing in Sir Thomas Browne's writings that 

 can refer to the Tufted Duck, nor is it included in Merrett's " Pinax " 

 (1666 or 1667), the earliest list of British Birds we have, whence 

 we may, I think, conclude that it was unknown to the former, as 

 his " Account of Birds found in Norfolk " was certainly written to 

 supplement the information given by the latter. 



" Willughby and Ray clearly knew the bird, and I think the natural 

 inference from what they say, both in the original Latin edition and 

 also in the later English one, is that they had met with it in this country, 

 though they do not state where the specimen described was procured 



This record occurs in the very interesting passage relating to the birds of 

 the Lincolnshire Fens : " I have seen on the East Fen a small flock of the tufted 

 Ducks ; but they seemed to make it only a baiting place," are the author's words 

 (" Tour in Scotland, 1769," ed. 1772, p. 1 1). Nothing is said as to the date on 

 which they were seen. Lubbock (" Fauna of Norfolk ") says it was in the beginning 

 of July, but this is not borne out by a reference to the " Tour." On that occasion he 

 appears to have done little more than stayed the night (of 27th June) in Lincoln. 

 More likely it was in May 1768, when he was staying at Revesby, Banks's place 

 in Lincolnshire, and when, as he tells us, he "made many observations on the 

 zoology of the country " (" Literary Life," p. 8). 



19 c 



