NOy-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 169 



but flies right away when flushed, covering its eggs, 

 however, with down when leaving them voluntarily; 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the White-eyed Pochard are from eight 

 to' fourteen in number, ten being an average clutch. 

 They are pale creamy-buff, sometimes with a perceptible 

 tinge or suffusion of green. Average measurement, 2*i 

 inches in length by 149 inch in breadth. Incubation, 

 performed by the female, lasts, according to Favier, 

 thirty days ; Naumann says twenty-two to twenty-three 

 days. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of this Pochard 

 very closely resemble those of the Gadwall and the 

 Wigcon, but the down tufts, which are small and very 

 dark brown without any pale tips, will serve to distinguish 

 them. The eggs of the Harlequin Duck and the Smew 

 also resemble them, but the breeding grounds do not 

 impinge, the nests are different, and the shell weight of 

 the Pochards is heavier than any of the rest, size for 

 size. 



Family ANATID^. Genus FULIGULA. 



Sub-family FULIGULIN.^. 



SCAUP. 



FULIGULA MARILA [LtunCSJis). 



(British : Common autumn and winter migrant.) 

 Single Brooded. Laying season, May and June. 



Breeding area : Northern Nearctic and Palsearctic 

 regions. The Scaup breeds sparingly in the P'aroes, 

 abundantly in Iceland, and throughout the Arctic regions 

 of Europe and Asia, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 



