” 
DUCKS, ‘GEESE, AND* SWANS. 209, 
are white. In the female, the black is replaced by 
dark brown, and the white with brownish-gray : the 
white speculum remains. Many Tufted Ducks 
breed, and are apparently resident in our islands in 
certain inland districts; but the majority of the 
birds that occur round the coasts are migrants from 
the north. This Duck begins to arrive off the 
British coasts towards the end of October, and con- 
tinues to do so into November. It remains in 
our area until the following spring, passing north in 
March and April. Its principal haunts are the more 
low-lying coasts, especially in the vicinity of estuaries 
and mud-banks. It is gregarious enough at this 
season, some of the flocks consisting of many thou- 
sands of birds. In its habits generally, it very closely 
resembles the Scaup Duck, a species whose company 
it often keeps. It swims in much the same low 
manner, dives with equally marvellous adeptness, 
and shows the same propensity for keeping well out 
to sea during the day, coming shorewards and into 
shallower water at night to feed. It rises from the 
sea in the same apparently laboured way, striking 
the water with its feet—the splashing thus made by 
a flock of birds being audible for a long distance. 
Its alarm note during winter is a harsh hurr, but 
the bird is not a very noisy one. The food of this 
Duck consists of molluscs, small fish, and the roots, 
stems, leaves, and buds of various water plants—all 
of which is obtained by diving, the bird sometimes 
remaining beneath the surface for as long as a minute. 
O 
