158 HRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



eggs. She soon returned and, 1 think, brought off her brood. 



I imagine the old birds carry their ducklings to the water, 



often a distance of several miles. It would be interesting 



to see them performing this feat. D. Munro Smith. 



TUFTED DUCK AND TEAL BREEDING IN SURREY. 



While watching some Great Crested Grebe on a large Surrey 

 pond on April 29th, 1912, I was surprised to see a couple of 

 Tufted Duck (Nyroca fuligtila). On May 25th the drake 

 was alone, swimming about close to the bank, and from its 

 behaviour I felt certain that the duck must be sitting at 

 no great distance. However, a diligent search for the nest 

 resulted in failure. On June 8th I again visited the locality, 

 and found both birds together in the middle of the pond, 

 and by the aid of my glasses I could see that they were 

 accompanied by nine young Avhich looked about a A\eek old. 

 I believe this to be the first authenticated record of their 

 breeding in the county. Mr. John A. Bucknill, in the Birds 

 of Surrey, p. 239, states that " although the bird has nested 

 in some of the adjacent counties. I am not aware of any record 

 of its having done so in Surrey in a wild state." 



During my search for the nest of the Tufted Duck I flushed 

 a Teal {Nettion crecca) from ten eggs, and on revisiting the 

 spot on June 2nd, found that all with the exception of two 

 had successfully hatched-out. The young left the nest on 

 my approach. There was a plentiful supply of down and 

 flank-feathers (a sample of which I took) both of which I 

 found quite typical. Apparently there are few records of 

 this bird breeding in the county, and as far as my experience 

 goes it must be regarded as a rare occurrence. The nest was 

 in long old heather, and was about one hundred and fifty 

 yards from water. P. F. Bunyard. 



MOVEMENTS OF COMMON SCOTERS OFF THE NORTH 



COAST OF WALES IN SUMMER. 

 The months of June and July and the first week in August, 

 1912, were remarkable for the large numbers of non-breeding 

 Common Scoters {Oidemia n. nigra) which summered off the 

 north coast of Wales, and I think that since the occurrence 

 appears to be so exceptional on at least that portion of the 

 western seaboard during those three months, the following 

 report may be of interest. 



The first party of Scoters came under my notice shortly 

 after 4 p.m. on June 22nd ; and until 5.30 p.m. flock after 

 flock, large and small, passed every few minutes westward 

 along the north-easterly side of the Great Orme's Head, their 



