288 AUTUMN AND WINTER 



like the wigeon, to the group of diving ducks, their natural 

 haunt is on fresh water, and not in the estuaries. Tufted 

 duck are becoming more common as a nesting species in 

 many counties, and more familiar as winter visitors where they 

 do not yet breed. With their bold pied markings of black 

 and white, bright yellow eye, and hanging crest, the drakes 

 are very handsome birds, and catch the eye from afar as they 

 rest on the water or dive. The ducks have the same general 



TUFTED DUCK AND POCHARD 



pattern, but the black and white patches are replaced by two 

 shades of brown, so that they are much less conspicuous. 



All these species belong either to inland waters or to 

 creeks and harbours ; the true sea-ducks haunt open salt 

 water, and scatter round the coasts in winter with the divers 

 and guillemots and gulls. The commonest of them is the 

 common scoter, or 'black duck,' which can often be seen 

 near the coast, as well as occasionally inland, when it has 

 been carried out of its course by stormy weather. Even 

 during the hour's crossing on the frequented route from 

 Dover to Calais, scoters can often be seen ; they fly low over 

 the water like smaller cormorants, or float low in the trough 

 of the waves. Gannets are also frequently seen in winter in 

 the straits of Dover, as well as round the rest of our coast ; 

 as autumn approaches, they wander from their densely packed 



