TUFTED DUCK. 241 



shire, and Aberdeenshire ; and in Ireland near Loughs 

 Neagh and Beg, and in some parts of Co. Monaghan. 



Breeding habits : The Tufted Duck is by far the 

 most abundant in winter, but it is hard to say whether 

 the birds that breed in our area retire south as the 

 northern contingents arrive. In its choice of a breeding- 

 haunt the Tufted Duck closely resembles the Pochard, 

 showing partiality for pools and meres and broads sur- 

 rounded with rough, hummocky, marshy land, or heathy 

 and fairly well timbered ground. This Duck probably 

 pairs for life. I have seen it in pairs at every season of 

 the year. It is also a remarkably social species during 

 the breeding season, the males not only swimming in 

 company, but the females making their nests at no great 

 distances apart in many cases. The favourite situation 

 for the nest is a tuft or tussock of sedge, amongst rushes, 

 in long coarse grass, or beneath the shelter of a stunted 

 bush. Sometimes a heap of dead reeds is selected. The 

 nest is a mere hollow, lined with a little dry grass, sedge, 

 or rush, and an abundance of down from the body of the 

 female, not unfrequently intermixed with a few feathers 

 from the male. The bird is a close sitter, but when 

 flushed flies straight away without any alluring or anxious 

 movement. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Tufted Duck are usually from eight to 

 ten in number, but sometimes as many as thirteen or 

 even fourteen. They are greenish-buff" in colour, smooth 

 in texture, and rather polished. Average measurement, 

 2'3 inches in length, by v6 inch in breadth. Incubation, 

 performed by the female, lasts from twenty-five to twenty- 

 eight days. The eggs are always covered by the female 

 for concealment when she leaves them voluntarily. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of the Tufted 

 Duck cannot safely be distinguished from those of the 



