108 THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND. 



by a " runner," or small stream, both sheltered on 

 two sides by wood or thickets, and both preserved. 

 The distance from either lough to the Solway does 

 not exceed three miles. Accordingly, when the 

 weather is boisterous or the punt gunners are astir, 

 many ducks leave the estuary to seek shelter on 

 one or other lough. We have personally observed 

 ten species of ducks on Monkhill lough (our 

 favourite inland observatory), and two other species 

 have occurred there. A small party of Scaups 

 frequently favour both loughs in rough weather, 

 and we have also observed singf'le drakes and listened 

 to their discordant cry. We have no notes of 

 Scaups occurring far inland in Cumberland ; but 

 in January, 1881, two Scaups w^ere shot on Hawes 

 Water, Westmorland, some thirty miles from the 

 sea. One of the two thus obtained is intermediate 

 in plumage between the adult male and female, 

 associating- the white forehead of the female with 

 the bottle-green head of the drake. It was not 

 until examining this bird, that we realized the fact, 

 which, indeed, is not generally remembered, that 

 young male Scaups wear the white forehead of the 

 female during the first autumn. Sir R. Payne- 

 Gallwey states — " The females alone show the dirty 

 white mark round the base of the bill, something 

 like the White-fronted Goose" (The Fowler in 

 Ireland, p. 103). Yarrell correctly states — "Young 

 birds resemble the females, generally, but the light 

 colour on the back is varied with brown spots. By 

 the month of January, the young male has nearly 

 assumed the glossy black head, but the mottled 



