TUFTED DUCK. 55 



breeding range extending across northern Europe and Asia, 

 and a wintering area in southern Europe and Asia and northern 

 Africa. 



The black and white " Magpie-Diver," as some sportsmen 

 call it, black above and white below in the drake, is not a 

 difficult bird to tell ; the long, graceful crest in winter sets 

 •it apart from other ducks. The female and young birds are 

 less distinctive ; they are dark brown above, and have dull 

 white under parts, whilst the crest is but slightly developed. 

 It is not, at first sight, always easy to separate them from 

 Pochards, especially when their lavender-tinted flanks obscure 

 the white wing bar. On the wing, however, this white bar is 

 very plain, though less noticeable than that of the Goldeneye. 

 On account of the Tufted's golden-yellow irides, it is often 

 called the " Goldeneye," leading to confusion with the next 

 species. The residents receive large additions from oversea in 

 autumn, October being the month when most arrive or visit 

 our waters on passage ; but the numbers, at any rate in Lanca- 

 shire and Cheshire, begin steadily to increase in August. 

 From then onwards there are flocks of varying size on all the 

 larger waters, but these diminish from March to May, and in 

 June and July the only birds in evidence are the breeding stock 

 and a few which for some reason show neither inclination to 

 nest nor migrate. The summering of non-breeders has, during 

 the last ten to twenty years, become an almost regular habit, 

 preceding the settlement of a few nesting pairs. 



Undoubtedly the Tufted is our best-known diving duck, and 

 it is expert at the art. Some consider that it is a cleaner 

 diver than the heavier Pochard, which they say has to spring 

 out of the water before going under ; but the spring is a habit 

 of both species, and is merely used when the bird wishes to dive 

 deep. The Tufted may take a header or merly slip out of sight, 

 but like the Pochard it usually kicks up a parting jet of water. 

 Ussher states that the bird has been caught in Lough Neagh in 



