50 The Scottish Naturalist. 



wards saw of them, they seemed to be quicker in their move- 

 ments, and exhibited a more restless unstable-like behaviour than 

 is the custom of the "Dunter." I could not be positively cer- 

 tain of seeing these ducks again for some days. One morning, 

 however, about a week afterwards, I had a good sight of them, 

 as they were apparently busy feeding on the young mussels that 

 occur in some abundance outside the rocks on the north of St. 

 Andrews. I could only count six birds at this time, but as 

 they were diving and remaining a considerable time under the 

 water, there may have been more of them. From their general 

 appearance, and the view I then had of the dark colour of the 

 backs of the males, I felt absolutely certain that they were King 

 Ducks. 



Although I continued to see these ducks occasionally — or, 

 at any rate, what, from the distance, I took for them — 

 until the end of the first week of April, they were, with one 

 exception, always so far out at sea that it was impossible to 

 make any thing of them. This was at the mouth of the Eden, 

 where I came upon them, somewhat unexpectedly, as they were 

 quietly swimming about amongst a number of Eiders, with which 

 they were evidently associating in the most friendly manner. 

 I could only, of course, be sure of the identity of the males. 

 The females of the Eider and King Duck seem to me to 

 resemble each other so closely, that I should say it would be 

 next to impossible to distinguish the one from the other when 

 seen at a distance. 



About the middle of April I heard that one or two King 

 Ducks had been shot in the Tay, but beyond that I could 

 neither see nor learn anything of these birds or their where- 

 abouts, and ultimately concluded that they had gone oft". 

 In this, however, I was mistaken, for on the 29th of April a fine 

 male, in splendid adult plumage, w r as killed in the estuary of 

 the Tay. The bird is in my possession, and was examined by 

 me while in the flesh. Mr. Patrick Henderson, Dundee, who 

 also saw these ducks in the Tay last spring, has kindly informed 

 me that other three specimens were killed in the estuary of 

 that river in March last. All these birds were seen and examined 

 by himself. He states that they were all females, but that he 

 was once within thirty yards of a fine male, but could not pro- 

 cure it. One of the above mentioned ducks was shot by Mr. 



