TUFTED DUCK. 169 
that the bird has not yet been observed in Cheshire 
during the summer months. Mr. Vere Cholmondeley 
tells us that a male was shot at Hatton Heath, near 
Chester, in October 1899. This is an early date for the 
occurrence of the species, and this bird may possibly 
have bred somewhere in the district, although the 
keeper at Hatton says it was not seen at that place 
before the day it was killed. The meres and pools in 
the parks furnish unrivalled nesting-places; and as the 
Tufted Duck has undoubtedly increased in numbers 
within late years, we may confidently hope that it 
will soon be established as a resident in the county. 
The Tufted Duck has not often been recorded from 
West Cheshire. Brockholes states that it is occasion- 
ally met with on the estuary of the Dee,! and Dr. Dobie 
says that it has occurred at Eaton.2 There is an 
example from that locality in the Grosvenor Museum, 
Chester, which was shot on December 27th, 1890,? and 
one in the Warrington Museum which was obtained 
at Appleton. Three are stated to have been shot on 
the same day on the Mersey near Warrington many 
years ago.’ 
The numbers of the Tufted Duck visiting the meres 
of Mid and East Cheshire have increased considerably 
within recent years. On January 15th, 1876, Colonel 
Dixon shot three birds, the first he ever saw in Cheshire, 
on his pool at Astle Park.t Twenty years later, on 
March 14th, 1896, we saw about a dozen birds on the 
pool, and Colonel Dixon informed us that they now 
frequent the water every winter, often in large numbers, 
always leaving, however, about the middle of April. 
During the winter months we have often seen this 
1 Brockholes, op. cit. p. 15. 2 Dobie, op. cit. p. 325. 
3 Naturalists’ Scrap-book, p. 228. 4 Field, vol. xlvii. p. 84. 1876. 
