SOME NOTES ON THE TUFTED DUCK 151 



but we can hardly suppose that these were the first nests on 

 Scottish soil. [Since this paper was put in type, I have, 

 through the kindness of Mr. J. A. Young, Edinburgh, seen a 

 Tufted Duck's egg taken from a nest on Dupplin Loch, Perth- 

 shire, in the summer of 1872, by a gentleman whose name I 

 am not at present at liberty to mention. There can be no 

 question as to the date. The birds were noticed on the 

 loch one or two years prior to the finding of the nest.] Mr. 

 Osborne's belief that the bird was nesting as far north as 

 Caithness fourteen or fifteen years before, was, as shown 

 above, probably well founded, and there can be little doubt, 

 I think, that it bred regularly on Loch Leven for several years, 

 at any rate, before the accidental discovery in 1875 of the nest 

 recorded by Mr. Herbert. During the summers of 1885 and 

 1887 I made inquiries of boatmen and others engaged about 

 the loch as to how long these black-and-white diving ducks 

 had been observed to remain over the breeding season, and 

 invariably got the reply, "As long as I can remember," or words 

 to that effect. We cannot, of course, put much value on such 

 evidence, but it indicates that the folks on the spot had not 

 been struck by any sudden change in the habits of the birds. 

 My first visit to the loch was in the autumn of 1 8 7 6, but beyond 

 the fact that Tufted Ducks were present I am unable to 

 make any statement. I did not then know that the bird had 

 bred in Scotland, and ornithology was not the object of my 

 visit. My friend, Mr. P. Adair, tells me that on the occasion 

 of his first visit to the loch in the end of April 1873 he took 

 particular notice of the number of " Tufties " on it, especially 

 along the southern shore. 



At Loch Leven, and no doubt elsewhere, a pair or two 

 to take a very moderate view of the case may be assumed to 

 have in the first place occasionally abandoned the annual flight 

 to Northern Europe, and remained behind to breed in their 

 winter haunts ; but for many years such occurrences would be 

 the exception, not the rule. By 1875 or 187 6, however, there 

 was clearly a marked tendency to settle down in earnest in 

 several districts, and the passing of the Wild Birds' Protection 

 Act in 1880 must, of course, have greatly promoted its in- 

 crease as a resident species throughout the country. The effect 

 would have been still more marked had the eggs as well as 



