210 BRITISH SEA “BIRDS. 
The Tufted Duck retires to inland waters for the 
summer, its favourite resorts being meres, lakes, 
and marshy grounds full of small ponds. A 
partiality is also shown for small pools on heaths, 
or fairly well-timbered ground. This Duck 
probably pairs for life; in the breeding season it is 
certainly social, many males consorting together, 
and many females making their nests within a small 
area. The nest is usually made in a tussock of 
sedge, beneath a bush, or amongst rushes and 
coarse grass, and is a mere hollow lined with a little 
dry vegetation, and an abundance of down from the 
female. The eggs are usually from eight to ten in 
number, and greenish-buff. They are laid, accord- 
ing to locality, from April to June. The female 
alone brings up the young. Outside our islands, 
the Tufted Duck breeds in the Arctic or temperate 
parts of Europe and Asia, visiting the southern 
portions of those continents, as well as North Africa, 
during winter. 
POCHARD. 
This handsome Duck, the Anas ferina of 
Linnzus, and the Wyroca or Fuligula ferina of 
modern writers, is another winter visitor to the 
British Islands, where, however, it breeds locally, 
and in somewhat limited numbers, thus coming 
within the category of our resident species. In 
some districts the male of this Duck is known as 
the ‘“‘Red-headed Poker,” the female as the 
“Dunbird” or “Dunker.” The colours of this 
