LONG-TAILED DUCK. 63 



and its bill is noticeably short. It swims buoyantly, and when 

 the bill does not show clearly may be confused with the young 

 Smew. In both winter and summer dress, which markedly 

 differ, the drake has the two central tail feathers four or five 

 inches longer than the others, and as a rule he carries his tail 

 proudly erect. In winter his plumage is mainly black and 

 white, but with a pronounced brown mark on the side of the 

 neck. His head and neck are otherwise white. Much of 

 the white is retained on the face in summer, but the crown and 

 practically all the upper parts are rich brown. In winter the 

 scapulars and inner secondaries are elongated and white, but in 

 summer they have black centres and broad rufous edges. The 

 brown females have no very salient characters, but a brown 

 patch shows plainly on the greyish-white cheek. In old females 

 the head is often very white. Long descriptions of the immature 

 plumages are apt to confuse, for no two birds are exactly alike, 

 and the drake is often in a curious mixture of winter and 

 summer dress. The usual time of autumnal arrival off our 

 shores is September, and of departure, March or April, but 

 there are many records of early birds in August or even July, 

 and of belated ones in May. One female arrived on a Cheshire 

 mere at the end of July and remained for two months ; an 

 unusually long stay, for the bird is distinctly a sea and not fresh- 

 water duck. 



The Long-tailed Duck is perfectly at home on the sea, ap- 

 parently rejoicing in a rough day. Facing the wind it rides 

 buoyantly up the advancing wave, breasts the breaking crest, 

 and glides into the hollow ; from the shore we see the small 

 bodies for a moment, then they vanish to appear immediately 

 on the next crest. Its feeding grounds are, as a rule, well 

 off shore; it dives fearlessly in the troubled water above some 

 sunken reef, seeking molluscs on the rocks and crustaceans in 

 the tangle. Even rocks and seaweed are not necessary, for it 

 subsists largely on the plankton — finding sufficient nourishment 



