i66 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family ANATID^. Genus Fuligula. 



Sub-family FULIGULIN^. 



RED-CRESTED POCHARD. 



Fuligula rufina {Pallas). 



(British : Rare abnormal winter migrant.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, April to June, according to 



locality. 



Breeding area: South-western Palaearctic region. 

 The Red-crested Pochard breeds locally in the Spanish 

 Peninsula, principally in the eastern portion, in the Bale- 

 aric Islands, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy, Central and Southern 

 Germany, the valley of the Danube, and Southern Russia. 

 South of the Mediterranean it breeds on the lakes of 

 Northern Africa, principally in the north-west. Whether 

 it breeds in Asia Minor or Armenia appears not to be 

 known, but it certainly does so in Northern Persia and 

 Turkestan. 



Breeding habits: In the more northerly portions of 

 its distribution the Red-crested Pochard is a migrant, 

 reaching its breeding haunts in April. This Duck is not 

 only gregarious during winter, but is more or less social 

 during summer, many pairs often nesting in close prox- 

 imity. The bird probably pairs for life. Ponds, broads, 

 and lakes with plenty of cover — rushes, willow and alder 

 scrub, long grasses — round the margin, and especially 

 such as contain islands, are the favourite nesting grounds 

 of this Pochard. The nest is generally made amongst 

 the flags, rushes, and coarse long grass near the water. 

 Externally it is composed of dead rushes, leaves, bits of 

 reed, and other vegetable refuse, and warmly lined with 

 down and a few feathers. In some cases the old nest 

 of a Coot or Moorhen is annexed. The bird is a close 



