114 BRITISH BIRDS. 



judge, the bird was fully adult. Only when it first rose 

 from the bank, had I a chance of seeing the plumage of the 

 upper-parts. This appeared uniformly grey, darker on 

 the middle of the back, which points to the bird being a female : 

 the gieenish-black saddle mark on the male being very 

 conspicuous. The size agreed well with the measurements 

 given by Saunders. 



Of course it is possible that this Heron might be an "escape," 

 but I do not think so, as I know of nobody in this immediate 

 neighbourhood likely to have Herons in captivity ; besides 

 this bird was in a fine state of plumage, and its flight was 

 powerful and well sustained. I unfortunately did not hear 

 the bird call, but my friend the Rev. R. LI. Hodgson, who 

 hves in a house in the wood adjoining the pond, several 

 times heard it calling at dusk. 



In the case of recording the occurrence of rare or uncommon 

 visitors, nothing short of actually handling the bird is really 

 satisfactory, still the information given above ma\ be thought 

 worthy of noting. R. Edward Coles. 



TUFTED DUCKS BREEDING IN 



BEDFORDSHIRE. 



The Tufted Duck {Fuligula cristata) bred this year (1911) 

 by some private water in Bedfordshire. On June 7th we 

 saw four drakes and one duck, but did not search for nests. 

 On June 8th there were four drakes together and two pairs 

 and a single duck on the water, and we flushed t\^o ducks 

 off their nests — one with nine and the other w ith twelve eggs. 

 On June 22nd we flushed a duck from a third nest with 

 eleven eggs. We did not make a thorough search, as we were 

 anxious not to spoil the cover, but it seemed probable that 

 six pairs were breeding. 



There is every reason to beUeve that the Tufted Duck 

 has bred in the same locality during the two previous years. 



Mr. J. Steel Elliott, in his Birds of Bedfordshire, says that 

 Mr. W. C. Thompson assured him the Tufted Duck bred at 

 Luton Hoo Park in 1894, but the Avater-keeper could not con- 

 firm this, except that they remained there late on in the 

 spring. Mr. Elhott adds that he saw some there on April 

 16th, 1895, but in May, 1896, and following years in the 

 same month, he failed to find this species present. 



There appears to be no other record of this duck having 

 bred in Bedfordshire. Fred. Sharman. 



