266 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



the birds. In display Tufted-duck are rather quieter and less 

 excitable than some other species, and the attitudes adopted are 

 seldom salient. The earliest evidences are vague and uncertain 

 in character. In the intervals between sleeping and feeding, the 

 drakes evince some unusual restlessness, swimming to and fro with 

 rapidity either towards the ducks or towards each other. The head 

 is held erect and the long crest becomes more than ordinarily 

 prominent. At frequent intervals the beautiful note (confined to 

 the drakes) — a soft, liquid, several-syllabled utterance rarely penetrat- 

 ing to any distance— is uttered, commonly in chorus by several birds 

 together. A slight upward toss of head and bill is occasionally 

 shown, but this is perhaps more characteristic of the duck, expressive 

 in the latter of varying mental conditions of excitement, both 

 sexual and otherwise. At irregular intervals the drake throws the 

 head sharply backwards so as to touch, or almost touch, the dorsal 

 feathers — an action much resembling a similar one of the Goldeneye, 

 but less forcible and spasmodic, and without vocal accompaniment. 

 An action not frequently displayed is one wherein the drake (and 

 more exceptionally the duck) raises the fore part of the body in the 

 water in a somewhat slow and deliberate manner, as though about 

 to flap the wings, the head and neck being simultaneously extended 

 almost perpendicularly upward. This movement may be easily 

 mistaken for a mere stretching motion, but close observation, with 

 comparison of occasions of occurrence, seems to show that it is a 

 veritable aspect of display. The backward throw of the head in the 

 drake, and the bill-tossing action of both sexes, continue to be 

 shown after the pairing-season. The ducks take a less active share 

 in courtship, but may be occasionally seen to approach the drakes 

 with neck extended and the head-tossing motion. At such times the 

 drakes appear to take up a more constrained attitude than usual, 

 floating on the water with the head and neck closely drawn into the 

 body. Mutual jealousy or rivalry in the drakes is curiously little in 

 evidence, and such, when it occurs, is confined to slight threatening 

 gestures, or short pursuits over the water. I have not witnessed 

 anything in the nature of a fight. 



As the days pass, these displays become more frequent and 

 definite in character, and the flocks begin to show a tendency to 

 split up into pairs. This is a gradual process, the mutual attachment 

 of the sexes being at first easily affected by weather-conditions 

 or other influences, but becoming more absolute with the advance 

 of the season. 



When the pairs have settled down in their nesting-quarters, and 

 from that period until well through the nesting season, a prominent 



