RCVEW^ 



British Breeding Ducks. By C. S. Meares. (Extract from 

 the Transactions of the London Nat. Hist. Soc. 1914, 

 pp. 48-69.) 



This is a workmanlike paper on those species of Anatidae 

 which breed in the British Isles, and includes the Grey Lag- 

 (loose and Sheld-Duck as well as the true ducks. It is 

 systematically arranged and deals in turn with the food, 

 range, breeding habits and eggs, down, etc. As the last 

 section is based on ]\Ir. Meares's own observations, it contains 

 no data with regard to the Scaup or Long-tailed Duck. 



We notice that Mr. Meares retains the name " flank feathers" 

 for the small feathers which are generally interspersed with 

 the dowai. This expression must not be taken literally, as 

 he is careful to explain that the larger feathers which are 

 sometimes present (and which do occasionally come from the 

 flanks) are ignored. In describing the feathers in the Sheld- 

 Duck's nest, he gives two t3q3es, i.e., those with nearly black 

 tips and those with chestnut tips, and states that intermediate 

 ones are also often found. The chestnut-tipped feathers are 

 obviously taken from the band round the upper-breast, and 

 the black-tipped ones from the middle of the abdomen, but 

 neither type can possibly come from the flanks. We have 

 commonly found pure white feathers also among the down, 

 and should say that three distinct types were present. 



The fact is. that with the exception of Mr. Noble's useful 

 ]iaper in British Birds, and some scattered notes on the various 

 downs, there is no really full and adequate treatment of this 

 interesting subject. The pu.blished notes on the subject are 

 not based on sufficient material, and hitherto no method of 

 reproducing the delicate shades of colour in the various do\vns 

 has proved satisfactory. The illustrations of feathers given 

 in the present paper are very crude, but in one or two cases 

 seem to be more typical than those selected by Mr. Noble. 

 The nesting notes are good and are evidently the results of 

 personal observation, and most of the information given is 

 correct as far as we have tested it. There is no doubt as to 

 the Scoter having bred in the Shetlands, though ^Ir. Water- 

 ston's observations have not been fully recorded. The first 

 Irish nest was discovered by the late Major H. Trevelyan, 

 and the first Scaup's nest was actually found by Captain R. 

 Sandeman. The nesting of the Wigeon in Yorkshire can 

 hardly be said to be proved, the recent records being due to 



