Notes on the Birds of a Ballast Pit. 225 
have usually noticed them in December or during the first three 
months of the year, the old drakes in their striking black and 
white plumage, with bright yellow eye and long drooping crest, 
being very conspicuous objects. “The ducks and young birds are 
dull of plumage and cannot readily be identified without the aid 
of a good field glass. On December 6th, 1907, I identified 3 
Golden Eyes on the water, the only ones I have seen there. ‘They 
seemed to be immature birds, and were very expert divers. 
Leaving the Duck tribe, we find Coots exceedingly common at 
almost any time of the year, except when the lake is frozen over. 
Many pairs nest among the reeds and rushes, and during the 
Summer old and young may be seen together in various siages of 
growth. The greatest number of coots I have noticed upon the 
water at one time was 130, which I counted there on February 
16th, 1904. ‘This is the most characteristic bird to be seen on the 
Ballast Pit. Vheir squabbles during the courtship of early 
Spring, their plaintive cries and their nesting habits are always a 
source of interest. A few Afoovhens inhabit the lake, but they are 
shy and retiring in their habits and are not nearly so frequently 
seen as the coots. Perhaps the most interesting bird I have seen 
on the Ballast Pit is the Great-crested (svebe. ‘This species is an 
interesting link with the old fen fauna. It was a striking figure 
on the stagnant pools of bygone Lincolnshire, in company with 
such marsh-loving birds as the Black ‘Tern, Avocet, Godwit, 
- Ruff, and Bittern. ‘hese have been lost as breeding species, but 
_ the grebe, though at one time approaching extinction, has escaped 
that fate and is now extending its breeding range in the British 
Isles. That a pair should nest so close to the city boundary is 
certainly an interesting fact for local ornithologists, but I am 
able to state from personal observation,that this has been the case 
at least four times during the last eight years. I first noticed a 
pair with 3 young in the curious striped downy plumage on July 
ei2th, t1g00. In the following year, on August 21st, the three 
young brought off that season were nearly as large as the parent 
