The Scaup Ducks. 351 



with plenty of submerged weeds and sur- 

 rounded by reeds. These Ducks feed 

 by day, constantly diving in search of 

 shells and all the minute forms of animal 

 life found in water ; they also bring up 

 branches and roots of weeds and eat 

 them, on the surface, at leisure. They 

 generally keep in the centre of ponds as 

 far from the banks as possible, and when 

 pursued they prefer very often to dive 

 rather than to fly away. Their powers 

 of diving are unrivalled, as may be judged 

 from the following incident, narrated by 

 Mr. Stevenson: — "They are very expert 

 divers, and the late Mr. Thomas Edwards 

 states that, having occasion to remove 

 some pinioned birds from a pond at 

 Thickthorn, he had the greatest difficulty 

 in capturing them by means of nets, with 

 which he succeeded in surrounding them. 

 One Tufted Duck he could see in the 

 clear water dive and swim round and 

 round to find an opening to avoid the 

 net, and attempt to go down into the 

 mud at the bottom of the lake, and grub 

 its way under the net like a rat. This 

 was done some eight or ten times by 

 the same bird, and the time it remained 

 under water was quite extraordinary." 

 Of the general habits of this Duck 



