64 H. LEWIS — NOTES ON BIKDS 



ever seen was killed in tlie neighbourhood of Welwyn. I know of 

 one water-keeper in this county who has killed no less than 28 

 in eight years, and he only has about three miles of water to look 

 after. By the time that our grandchildren become recorders the 

 heron will be like the bittern, rarely seen." 



The Tufted Duck (Anas fullgula). — Mr. Hooper mentioned that 

 a tufted duck had been killed in that " beautiful domain of 

 Munden." Mr. Buller has also reported that a tufted duck, male, 

 was killed at Kimpton Hoo, near Welwyn, on the 7th of January; 

 and that a pair of tufted ducks were shot at Oughton Head 

 Common, Hitchin, on the 13th of January. 



Lord Lilf ord informs us that ' ' this duck is an autumnal or 

 winter visitor, and breeds in a good many of our English counties 

 as well as in certain localities in Scotland and Ireland. Although 

 frequently met with on the coast, the tufted duck decidedly 

 prefers fi'esh to salt water. The bird thrives and breeds in 

 captivity." 



A singular hybrid between the pochard {Fuligida ferina) and 

 tufted duck (Anas fidigula) was taken in November last at the 

 Tring Reservoirs. Yarrell informs us that " there is in the 

 Belfast Museum a bird shot near Downpatrick, which is apparently 

 a hybrid between the tufted duck and the pochard." Tufted ducks 

 as well as pochards have been known to breed in captivity. 

 Yarrell states: "Tufted ducks bred in confinement in the ponds 

 at the Gardens of the Zoological Society during the summers of 

 1839, 40, and 41." Sclater says that "in 1849 a tufted duck 

 crossed with a ferriiginous duck [Fuligula nyroca) and the hybrids 

 thus produced continued to breed either inter se, or with one of the 

 parents, till 1861." 



The Watee-rail (Sallus aquaticus). — Mr. Hooper has infoi-med 

 me that Mr. Longman, of Shendish, wrote to him that " his bailiif 

 had caught a curious bii'd in the yard and had sent it to be stuffed." 

 He (Mr. Eooper) went to see it and found that it was a water-rail. 

 As Yarrell states : "This bird certainly appears to be less abundant 

 than it really is, the habits of the bird, and the nature of the 

 localities which it frequents, increasing the difficulties of observa- 

 tion." 



The Smew [Mergus alhellus). — A female smew was killed near 

 Welwyn early in the year and has been preserved in a very 

 creditable manner by Mr. G. J. Buller, of Hitchin, late of Welwyn. 

 Mr. Littleboy has reported the smew on two previous occasions. 

 He says that "a female smew was shot [at Munden] on the 26th of 

 December, 1846, by Mr. Nathaniel Hibbert," and also that "in 

 1885 a flight of nine visited the Marsworth Reservoir about the 

 middle of February." 



The Gkey Phalarope [Phalaropus fuUcarius). — Four of these 

 pretty and rare visitors were procured in October at tlie Tring 

 Reservoirs ; and one, I am informed by Mr. F. Cane, of Luton, 

 was brought to him in November to be preserved, having been shot 

 by Mr. Piggott by the side of a small pond at Chiltern Green. 



