354 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



lowins : — '' The late Mr. Proctor sent the author word that 

 the Scaup Dack is a very common species in Iceland, where 

 it breeds either among the aquatic herbage, or the large 

 stones near the edge of fresh water, making a slight nest, 

 with a quantity of down covering the eggs." As an article 

 of food the Scaup is not worth having, as the flesh is rank 

 and fishy. Mr. Jeffery (p. n.) states that in February 1870 

 a female was shot near Cliichestcr, and several were seen 

 about that time ; and in December 1879 another was killed in 

 Bosham Harbour. He considers it a rare bird on that part 

 of the coast. In 'Zoologist' (p. 9017) Mr. Dutton states 

 that Scaup Ducks were unusually plentiful about Eastbourne, 

 in February 1864. 



TUFTED DUCK. 



Fuligula cristata. 



This species is not uncommon on our coast, and in the 

 estuaries from October to March ; a few may occasionally 

 be seen on the larger inland ponds. It is an excellent diver, 

 and though it stays under water for a considerable period, 

 and often rises to the surface many yards from where it 

 went down, it does not use its wings under water. Mr. 

 Dickins informed me that there was a brood of Tufted 

 Duck on Birchin Pond in May 1853, and another on the 

 lake at Knepp Castle, in Shipley, near West Grinstead, in 

 1854; in both these cases the parents were wild birds. It 

 usually goes far more northward to breed, to wit, Rainworth, 

 near Mansfield, Nottingham, whence Mr. Whitaker kindly 

 sent me the eggs. It breeds also in Norfolk and on many of 

 the Scotch lakes, on one of which, at Skene, near Aberdeen, 

 I saw many pairs in August 1887, and from the peculiar 

 manoeuvres of one bird, I have no doubt she had a brood on 

 the lake ; but owing to the strong ripple on the water I 



