POCHARD. 61 
or alarmed, their note is a low whistle, but that at other 
times it is a rough croak. 
Meyer says, ‘about the end of April the Red-headed Pochards 
pair; there are no quarrels between the male birds, for the 
female is said to choose her own mate; and the pair remain 
inseparable, and do not quit the spot until the young brood 
are hatched and ready to follow them towards the larger 
lakes, ete., where they consider them out of danger.’ 
The nest of the Pochard is made among rushes or other 
coarse herbage, and is lined with feathers. Many nests are 
placed near each other, in suitable localities, such as osier 
beds or grassy places. 
The eggs are from eight or ten to twelve or thirteen in 
number, and of a buff white colour. 
The Pochard bred, in the year 1855, in the gardens of 
the Zoological Society, as Frederick Bond, Esq. has written 
me word. 
Male; weight, one pound thirteen ounces; length, about 
one foot seven inches and a half; bill, greyish blue across, 
black at the tip and about the base; iris, reddish or yellowish 
orange. Head on the sides and crown, deep glossy chesnut 
brown; neck in front, shading into deep brownish black on 
the breast; nape, brownish black. Breast above, deep brownish 
black, and on the sides dark dusky grey, marked with waved 
darker lines; and below the same, but paler. Back on the 
upper part, brownish black; on the middle and lower part, 
fine greyish white, with black waved pencillings. 
The wings expand to the width of nearly thirty inches; the 
first quill feather is the longest; greater wing coverts, bluish 
grey; lesser wing coverts, greyish white, but darker and 
pencilled across with black; primaries, dark dusky brown, 
ended with darker brown; secondaries, bluish grey, tinged 
with brown, and narrowly tipped with white; tertiaries, 
freckled over with fine pencillings of grey, on a white ground. 
Tail, dusky greyish; it consists of fourteen feathers; upper 
tail coverts, nearly black; under tail coverts, black. Legs 
and toes, greyish blue; webs, bluish black, and large in size. 
The female has the bill black; iris, brown; head on the 
erown, and neck on the back, sides, and nape, dusky greyish 
brown, with some ferruginous. The lower part of the neck 
in front is dark brown, with a tint of dark red. . Chin and 
throat, pale greyish white, with an admixture of reddish 
brown. Breast above, dark reddish brown, the edges of the 
