VOL. IX.] NOTES. 275 



INCREASE OF TUFTED DUCKS IN 

 CO. TIPPERARY. 



The increase of the Tufted Duck {Nyroca fuligula) in co. 

 Tipperary as a breeding species within the last few years 

 has been very marked, but it has a parallel in many other 

 ]>arts of Great Britain. 



In 1900, Ussher considered the appearance of a pair on 

 Lough Derg during May 1899 worthy of record, but when 

 I visited this lake in June, 1913, Tufted Ducks were in pairs 

 everywhere and on the Tipperary side they were especially 

 numerous. Around two small islands near Dromineer, more 

 than fifty were riding on the water, mostly idling, their heads 

 resting on their backs, with the bills pointing to the tails. 

 Both ducks and drakes emitted loud calls. A few trees and 

 stunted bushes of guelder roses grew on these islands, and 

 the grass was long and abundant. Amongst this the ducks 

 were breeding and I found many nests with eggs in various 

 stages of incubation, while one brood of young recently 

 hatched swam about, packed up so tightly together that they 

 resembled a bunch of floating weeds, for which I, at first, 

 mistook them. 



Generally, near the occupied nesting sites, perhaps only a 

 couple of feet away, a little pile of broken-up eggshells marked 

 the spot where the young had been hatched the previous 

 season. 



During a long day spent on the lake, I only observed two 

 pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers — a species once so common 

 there that anglers offered rewards for their destruction. 

 Great Crested Grebes were around some of the reed beds, 

 but I failed to find any nests. C. J. C-arroll. 



ARCTIC SKUA SOARING IN PURSUIT OF TERNS. 

 Early in September, 1915, I watched an Arctic Skua 

 [Stercorarius ^parasiticus) attacking some Common Terns in 

 Blakeney Harbour, in a distinctly unusual manner. The 

 Terns, gradually mounting to a great height in the air, were 

 closely followed by the Skua, till they reached such an 

 altitude that they resembled nothing so much as a flock of 

 Rooks mobbing a Kestrel. Presently, soaring round and 

 round and gradually moving inland, they vanished out of 

 sight. 



I have never seen a Skua chase Terns at any great height 

 before, and Edward Ramm, the famous gunner, who was with 

 me at the time, was as interested as I was in the sight. 



Clifford Borrer. 



